memories

We spent last weekend in Columbus for Lex's funeral and Courtney's wedding. It was an interesting mix of emotions going between the two types of functions (funeral-graveside-family luncheon -- rehearsal dinner), but it truly was a blessing to be there for it all.

In keeping with my training schedule (I'm actually sort of training!) for the half marathon, I spent a few mornings running through my parents' neighborhood. Man! Maybe it was just because I was already emotional because of the events of the weekend, but I spent a lot of time reminiscing.

My family moved to the beautiful Coca Lake subdivision when I was in 7th grade, and it was the best year of my life (at that point). There were lots of families with kids at our (very small) school, and it created a very fun community almost immediately. I had the best childhood a kid could ask for. Some people hated middle school, but starting in 7th grade, my life was so good.

I should add: all of my friends were boys. Actually, I had friends that were girls, but none of them lived nearby so I always hung out with the boys. Peter was my best friend, and we were pretty much inseparable. We didn't have much of an option though because between our moms and his brother (then the 2 of us when we started driving... much later than everyone else in our class), we carpooled everywhere. One other thing: I am SO thankful for so much of the fun we had and the memories we made, but I'm even more thankful that it was all wholesome. Sure, we did stupid things like jump off the roof of the gazebo at the pool (seriously, dumb), but we never did anything illegal or immoral. Never. All of our fun was totally innocent which is so hard to believe looking back on the freedom and the opportunities we probably had. Heck, we spent half of our summers at the pool and running around in the woods. By ourselves! I am so thankful the Lord allowed us the fun and protected us from any harm. I love sharing these stories with my husband now, and not being ashamed of one single thing.

Some of my thoughts/memories from running around the neighborhood were:
catching bugs for our bug project/skateboards/scooters/bikes/4-wheelers/the house with the purple door/the cul-de-sac where we set off an alarm by playing on construction equipment/riding bikes into the lake (to make "jackass" videos)/The Ring prank/zip line in my back yard/slip-n-slide in my front yard/coming home to find friends playing on our trampoline/spending the night on the trampoline/Chris'/Tiffany's/Adam's house/ringing the bell in the Thompson's yard/Nintendo 64/sharing N64 games after Columbine when half of the moms confiscated the James Bond games/the house that had the carbon monoxide poisoning/calling each other to say "get online" when we could have probably just hollered out the window/puppies/the stealing of the gumball machine/waking up to friends that had broken into my room (by climbing through my bathroom window) and were hosing me down with water guns/the Carrs/Harrises/Brennamans houses/sneaking cookies and milk out my window to friends/fishing/one game of kick the can/running through the tunnels between the lakes/threatening the guys with the reminder of my dad's "samurai sword"/the guys running away from my house after waking my dad up/and more pool parties (spying on David's friends at their parties, joint parties with John Adam each summer, injuries (Peter getting hydrogen peroxide applied while standing in the bathtub, Jason barely catching me in the street, David jumping off the porch and slicing his leg open) and late nights than I could ever recount.

Capture the flag gets a category all its own. It's hard for me to even explain the fun we used to have playing this silly game. We played CTF ALL.THE.TIME. As soon as the weather started getting warm, we would play on the weekends. When summer time came, we probably played 3-5 nights a week. There was a core group of kids that all lived in Coca Lake or real close by and played nearly every time: Me, Ashley, Peter, David, John Adam, Mallory, Adam, Jason, Jennifer...etc. Plus, you never knew who or how many guys would be spending the night at the Carrs' house, and they all always played (Chris, TimD., TimK., Patrick, Zach, Kerr, Jason, Caleb, Will, Ben, Nick, Steven, Jamin, Grant, Kwame... etc.). We had the perfect setup on Coca Way: three houses in a row of people who knew us :). The Carr's house was home base, and Mrs. Carr kept us well-fed and very well-hydrated. I wish we had counted the gallons of red kool aid she made (I could write an entire separate post just on Mrs. Carr and her hospitality. I probably should.). The property line between the Carrs' and the Martins' house was the dividing line (and injury central... remember the cable that was tied to that tree?). The Thompson's was our overflow space. The woods were fair game. So was the street. We played until people had to go home. My mom would call Mrs. Carr and tell her to send us home. Sometimes my parents would just yell for us from our house. Sometimes we would walk home on the road, other times we would take the well-worn path through the woods. Eventually, my mom would drive over, chat with Mrs. Carr and make us go home.

I'm beyond sad that we don't have any pictures of CTF. None. But, at the same time, it reminds me that there just wasn't time for that. We were too busy living in the moment- chasing each other and drinking red kool aid.

David has never lived in a neighborhood. Growing up I lived in two houses - both of which were on a cul-de-sac in a neighborhood with lots of kids and a community pool. When we look at our dreams for the future, it definitely includes this kind of community for our family. I am beyond thankful.

So, Calvary friends... 10th year reunion in 2013... Pool party followed by capture the flag?? Who's in?!