Raised by the Village

I grew up in a small town in NEPA called Lightstreet. It is only famous for being a stop along the Interstate but of course that wasn't in existence when I lived there as a child. My childhood was happy, safe, and lacked excitement. That didn't keep us kids from riding bikes all day, playing tag and hide-n-seek at night and every other thing in-between. We rode our bikes to the nearest creek bed and I'll bet there wasn't a mother in town that didn't have bunches of pretty violets on their table after that trip.

I didn't realize until I was at least fifty years of age how lucky I was. Now I know what it means to be "raised by the village". All of the mothers (and others) were looking out for us. Of course we didn't have to worry back then about being snatched up by some vagrant but I'm sure we could have found our share of trouble. If you were hungry or thirsty, a friend's house was always close by. The winters were spent sledding down the local hills. Heck, the local farmers didn't care ... we didn't know what trespass meant anyhow, and certainly didn't know we were doing it. The whole village belonged to us. When we became teenagers, my friend Sally and I spent every Saturday night at the old Grange Hall square dancing. Heck, we both met our future husbands there.

I moved away for a short time after I got marred but in a couple years I was back in town where I grew up. My biggest regret is moving my own two children away. As much as I thought that the people were nosey busybodies ... I know know it was the best place ever. We had two local grocery stores where you knew exactly where everything was on every shelf. My kids just reminded me at Easter about the loose jellybeans we bought by the pound. Also, the Pepsi machine at Davis' Market was the greatest place for a cool drink. Many a sodas came from there. I only wish Chris and Kelly could have had the experience of living there throughout their entire childhood. Chris even told me once he never forgave me for moving them away.

Well, I am sorry. I can't change things and from what I hear, the old town has grown into convenience marts, stop lights and more important things. The old two church buildings in town are no longer houses of worship, being replaced by new, bigger, modern buildings. We always had the "white" church (clapboard Lutheran) and the "red" (brick Methodist) church. You went to one or the other. What a shame. I still have a cross made out of the stained glass windows of the "red" church. Memories are all I have.

I thank my parents for letting me be "raised by the village".