Changed it up a bit today.
I am blessed to be of the Butler 70's gang. In the early years of the 70's our life centered around ten blocks: Edgewood Dr., Pine and Forest Ave. Willow, Meadowdale and Marshall Streets. We weren't the Sandlot Kids,..but we were the Sandspur Kids. We were the TCHS Class of 1980.
Our childhood, our days of adolescence, becoming teenagers, finding ourselves and learning lessons along became our building blocks. Building lifelong friendships and unknowingly planting memories in places where others will never look. Enlisting in the US Navy in 1980, I left Butler to explore the world and make a life of my own: however, the memories of growing up in our little neighborhood are forever etched in a place I call home. The little pink playhouse, her way too cool decorated bedroom, her mother's laugh, her father's patience, the smell of pine needles when walking through her yard, and even that large white bulldog that pinned her and Kristy on the steps that day, are found memories that make me smile today. Nancy was the very first girl I ever kissed,..I didn't know my mouth could get that dry, nor that my heart could beat that fast. I recall running home thinking, "how will I ever face her again?" These are things that can taunt a 12-year-old boy.
My hours spent with Nancy and Kristy were indeed some of the very best days of my childhood. Looking back, I thank God we didn't have the technology of today. Hours spent lying on a trampoline, just talking and looking at clouds. The hundreds of miles we walked within that ten-block radius built friendships where we learned trust, betrayal and how to make up. Nancy had a sense of calm and peace about her that others lacked. My memories are dated, in comparison short-lived stopping in the summer of 1980.
May our Lord and God, our Heavenly Father grant her forever eternal peace.
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