Last Post of 2022...When Mom Gets Visited from an Ol' Neighbor, Joanne, and Suddenly Time Explodes in a Text and All You Can Do is Smile

When you're young, you never think a day will end, summers will come, or holidays will return. Everything operates in slow motion, and you have memories of this baseball game, or that pick-up football game, and riding ten speed bikes. Then high school hits, you get a job, you go on to college, and you hear stories of the little kids who used to live down the street who were football and track stars, eventually play Division I, and make it to the NFL. 

And you just remember the mom and dad who you always waved to, understood as the fabric of the neighborhood, and then like you, their time moves on, too. Nothing sits still.

So when Joanne visited my mom and I ask, "Did you get any pictures?" she sends photos of JR, Calvin, and Curtis as adult men, with their own kids, and all you can think is, "Wow. Look at time...will ya?"

These were the boys that replaced you and your friends on Amalfi Drive...the days of Kenny and Chrissy Williams...their little nieces and nephews who, like you, grew up. It's absolutely amazing to see the adult versions of their younger selves and to see smiles, happiness, and joy....all radiating from the same that Joanne and her husband always radiated from down the street. I've kept up slightly through Shawny, and always remembered Neesy, the oldest, who used to sprint down the street when she was in high school and I was in junior high. Now, all these years later, and knowing of their athletic careers and growth, a photograph arrives. 

It's pretty remarkable to see the way days, months, and even years become a blur and then to suddenly see lifetimes before you...beautiful lifetimes.

We are all raised by the neighborhood families, even when we don't realize they're keeping an eye on us. So much of my childhood was visiting with the parents and keeping an eye on the kids as they were outside playing. Then, Wola! They're adults, and their family story goes on just like your own.

I remember the announcements of razz-ma-tazz hair, and the time I hit homerun and Chrissy was on the sideline cheering me on like I was a huge stud. She was in high school, and the the oldest cousin from the other end of Amalfi Drive, and I remember how much gushing came from me knowing that a high school girl was pretending I was the greatest man on earth for hitting a home run. 

This ended 2022 perfectly...seeing time as it moves forward and knowing the happiness remains with their family. 

Here's to them...the Crandalls...the Altiers...and all those that were Amalfi Drive at the time. This, I believe, is what beautiful is all about.

And I'm so glad Joanne stopped to visit with my mom. That is extra special...there is no other word to describe it. This is definitely the bow wrapping up the year that just was...we are all connected by time, space, coincidence, and family.