Pinners, kick the can, softball, fast pitch, hide and go-seek, Santa Fe railroad tracks, snowball fights, hop scotch, tag, red light-green light, go karts, bike riding, catching grasshoppers, catching fireflies, playing catch, listening to the radio, hanging out on the stoop, laying in the grass, walking, talking to your neighbor, playing war, building a snow man or woman, washing your families car in front of the house, playing with the garden hose, water balloons, looking for coins under the sofa for candy, swapping baseball cards, visiting family two blocks away, building forts in your back yard, chasing the ice cream truck, playing in the fire hydrant, running home from school on the last day, blowing the seeds off the dandelions, cutting your neighbor's grass, climbing a tree, jumping rope, hopping fences, playing marbles, Big Wheels, pinwheels, picking crabapples, planting flowers, selling lemonade, ring-a-leevio, walking in the grass barefoot, listening to the birds-blue jays, cardinals, robins, backyard pools, breaking in baseball gloves, jacks, AM radio, cardboard airplanes, kites, hula-hoops, blowing bubbles, colored chalk, and so on…
How far from home were you?
Where was your local baseball field? Your secret hideout? Who was the fastest kid on your block? Who was the bully? When did you remove the seat from your Big Wheel? Who had the Billy Williams baseball card? Or Jorge Orta? Who had the Schwinn Sting Ray on your block? Who was your best friend in the neighborhood? Jays, Lays or Vitners?
Close your eyes for a moment and remember your Brighton Park from back then-40's, 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's…00's? 10's?
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