Lately, I've enjoyed getting reacquainted with an old friend of Emily and Elise's, Leigh Ann, on Facebook. She's a grownup now, although my best memories of her are crazy giggles and endless summer days of dress-up, plays, movies, swimming - just anything you can imagine a child's summer could be filled with.
Leigh Ann spent the summers with her dad and stepmother who lived right behind us, and I think the younger girls were around 6 and 7 when they first met. I can't even remember summers when they weren't constantly together, but I think that's about the right time frame.
As soon as she arrived, Leigh Ann would be knocking on the door, and the 3 of them never missed a beat from what they were doing the summer before. Eventually Elise outgrew them and began to not spend so much time with them, and other girls joined in along with Matthew another neighbor their age. The house was always filled with sounds of laughter, Nintendo games, telephones ringing, refrigerator door openings, TV shows and music. Lots of time spent in the under-the-deck playhouse "cooking" with berries and mud and dismembering Barbies. (Their 2 brothers who were 6 years older than them were also getting into their own mischief, but I didn't know about that until years later when I would hear "confessions.")
I just sent Emily a scrapbook filled with pictures from those days, so I don't have them right now, but there were plenty of them, videos too. They were always ready to perform plays and concerts and just plain old silliness for the camera.
They didn't spend all their time at our house but alternated between Leigh Ann's and ours plus other neighbors. At that time, the neighborhood was just filled with kids of all ages. We had a trampoline and a high deck, and I was probably better off not knowing what went on there all the time. One very clean activity was Soapy Slope, consisting of pouring a bottle of dishwashing solution on the trampoline, turning on the hose, and -- it's sort of indescribable but you couldn't watch them and not die laughing.
I sat through numerous preteen movies with them - the Goonies being the one that comes to mind first. I think I've thankfully forgotten the rest. Trips to the beach, birthday parties, Six Flags, lots of movies and trips to Macon Mall, whiffle ball and later on the Hanger, a unique place in Thomaston where teenagers and preteens and even children went to listen to music, play and find and break up with boyfriends and girlfriends.
Fun times when summer days and nights seemed to stretch on and on. There's no one left in the neighborhood now that we knew. Everyone moved on and went their separate ways. I think there should be a neighborhood reunion. I can't remember the name of the subdivision now - really just two main streets - Monroe and Jefferson. Maybe someone can jog my memory.
I asked Leigh Ann if I could take some pictures from her Facebook, and she gave me permission. She has such a beautiful family now. Husband Calvin and children Kori and Kolt - just beautiful. Just from reading FB entries and seeing pictures, I gather Kori is quite a softball star as well as growing into a beautiful young lady, and they spend LOTS of time following her games and practices. Pretty soon, they'll have a little boy doing the same thing - the sports thing, that is - and he IS beautiful! Busy, happy lives. I think it's an understatement to say mother and daugher look alike.
Leigh Ann mentioned wishing she could do a blog so she would remember these days. I recommend it.
Here are some pictures from the Young family in no particular order.
