My Wonder Years

Growing up happens in a heartbeat. One day you're in diapers; the next day you're gone. But the memories of childhood stay with you for the long haul. I remember a place . . . a town. . . a house like a lot of other houses. . . A yard like a lot of other yards. . . On a street like a lot of other streets. And the thing is. . . After all these years, I still look back. . . with WONDER.

I have been "talking" (actually e-mailing) with my friend, John, about the show and our lives. Like Kevin Arnold we were both born in 1956, smack in the middle of the baby boom. He just finished watching the entire series. What a great show and what it enhances it is that it was such a great time...

Nineteen-sixty-eight...I was twelve years old. A lot happened that year. Dennis McLain won thirty-one games..."The Mod Squad" hit the air...And I graduated from Hillcrest Elementary, and entered junior high school. But we'll get to that. There's no pretty way to put this...I grew up in the suburbs.

I guess most people think of the suburb as a place with all the disadvantages of the city, and none of the advantages of the country. And vice versa. But, in a way, those really were the wonder years for us there in the suburbs. It was kind of a golden age for kids.

There was a time when the world was enormous...Spanning the vast, almost infinite boundaries of your neighborhood. The place where you grew up. Where you didn't think twice about playing on someone else's lawn. And the street was your territory .that occasionally got invaded by a passing car. It was where you didn't get called home until after it was dark. And all the people, and all the houses that surrounded you were as familiar as the things in your own room. And you knew they would never change.