My Family

I grew up very close to my 6 siblings. I am the 6th of 7 and we are all about 1 year apart. So yeah, super close.  In order, Kristina, Michael, Barbara, Heidi, David, Kirsten, Mark. We lived just outside the city limits on a street that dead ended into the woods. That was the best playground any kid could ask for. 

Michael had the wildest imagination and anything we did was his idea. He also loved the history of the royal families of Europe. We built castles in the woods. 7 of them to be exact. They were amazing. Castle 2 was mine. It was a couple of trees that had fallen on each other. 

Castle 7 actually had a throne room. Michael gave us all titles and family lineage. He really knew a lot. 

The best was Smurf Island. Where the creek ran through the woods, there was a steep bank and a sandy embankment that really seemed like an island in my mind. We played there for hours each day. Smurfs was one of my favorite Saturday morning cartoons.

And then there was Village Square. It was actually across the street. Kudzoo grew over everything and in the fall and winter the leaves died off, but left vines. We hollowed them out and it really gave us shells we made houses and stores out of. We had a mayor, Michael, and a bank, Heidi, and even made money. In the stifling heat of the southern humid summer, and no air conditioning, it was the perfect place to spend our summer days.

The way Michael described it all, you could see it in your mind how it would really look.