Before I was in the 2nd Grade
I had a good, solid childhood. I had a stable dad who kept a job. My mom played piano for the church, and we went every time the doors were opened …like it or not.
My dad found my first bicycle in a junkyard and fixed it. I never wore a safety helmet. I was scuffing my toes and elbows from the numerous daring rides all the time. I was sun-brown, short-haired, and barefooted most of the time.
Before I was in the 2nd grade, I would bike across town without fear. I had a sandbox under a beautiful willow tree where I conducted ‘huge’ battles with my little army men. I would build fortresses, rivers, and bridges, then tear them down and build them again the next day.
My next-door neighbor had mini-bikes, and we rode them all the time. We would do our best rendition of the Tarzan yell to locate one another during the day. When my friend wasn’t around, I found endless things to occupy myself outside. I never got bored. We only went inside to watch cartoons, which came on at noon for 30 minutes.
Mom stayed home to raise us kids – most Moms did – and she would typically have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with milk ready for cartoons. Then, it was back out the door. I never got bored.
I moved to a smaller town about 30 miles away in the summer before the 3rd grade. For a little kid, it was another galaxy. I missed my friend. When I got lonely in the new place, I would stand on top of the storm cellar, do the Tarzan yell, and listen for my friend to respond. I didn’t see him again until after our voices had changed, and a whole other life had begun for me.
Sometimes, I drive down that old street. As I descend the little hill, I remember I could build up a lot of speed on my bike in this place. It was a little town back then. Now, it’s surrounded and almost indistinguishable from the Dallas / Fort Worth metroplex. The street seemed so huge back then. Now, it seems very small. That ‘giant’ backyard looks like a chicken run. So many big things happened in such a small place.
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Remember, it is the glory of God to conceal a matter and the glory of kings to search it out. Proverbs 25:2
