It’s been an anxious time for the Fruit Loops. There has been talk of one of the boys moving out of the neighborhood. Loyal readers know the Fruit Loops are the gang of lads who cruise around the neighborhood after school and during their days off from school. No one knows what these future leaders and heroes are up to. When we ask The Boy what they did, he responds with, “Nothing,” or “We just rode our bikes around.”
Wife and I have learned from one of the neighbors they are looking to move to another part of town or maybe even to another town. The seismic shift this could cause to our neighborhood and its young inhabitants needs no description. A member of the Fuit Loops pulling up stakes and landing in a foreign neighborhood? Some losses just can’t be recovered from.
My Old Neighborhood
I lived in East Lynn for a few years. It was a great place to be. We were down the street from Manning Bowl. This meant high school marching bands would come march down our street on their way to the annual Lynn English-Lynn Classical Thanksgiving football game. Next to Manning Bowl was Fraser Field. Fraser Field hosted the Lynn Sailors, an affiliate of the Seattle Mariners. Youth baseball teams would get at least one game at Fraser Field during the season. Fraser Field has also hosted independent baseball teams and currently hosts Fisher College’s baseball team.
There were a lot of things to like about our house and the neighborhood. Another great thing about where we were was the people who also lived on our street. My best friend, Donny, lived across the street. On his side of the street were Kevin, Andrea, Ryan, and Joshua. My side of the street was home to Monique, Gary, Michelle, and Erica. We played and rode our bikes together.
Toward the end of the first grade, my parents made the decision to move across town. I don’t know what led to this, but they decided to move to West Lynn to the house my grandparents built. My grandparents were moving to live in their house in Florida year-round. We packed up and moved to West Lynn. I had been there plenty of times to visit my grandparents, but I really didn’t know anyone except for Matthew and his family, who lived on the other side of the fence from my grandparents.
The New Neighborhood
On our first morning in our new house, my brother and I set out to look for kids in our neighborhood. We weren’t sure where to start. Like I said before, we visited my grandparents but didn’t pay much attention to anyone else on the street.
Of course, we knew Matthew, but we wanted to see who else was there since this was going to be our new home. On that day we met another Matthew. He lived on the other side of our street. Next door to him was Johnny, Salvy, and Angela. We also met Matthew’s sister, Jessica, and Amanda, Danny, Mark, Jeff, and Nick. We met more kids through these people, and we were soon engrossed in games of baseball, kickball, and football.
Our circle grew, and people have managed to stay in touch with each other over the years. We made new friends. Some came and went, but there was always a nucleus of people who stayed. People ate dinner and slept at others houses. There was a week spent in New Hampshire. The settings have changed, but people have managed to stay together over the years through football games, weddings, baptisms, and unfortunately funerals.
What Happens to the Fruit Loops?
The Boy updated us on the happenings with his group and the potential loss of a friend for him and neighbors for us. According to updates, the family is moving but they are moving to another house in the neighborhood. This hasn’t been confirmed, but if this is true, no doubt there is a sigh of relief. The Fruit Loops are still intact. They will have to do a little more pedaling to get to the new house, but it’s a small price to pay to keep the band together.
I’m happy for The Boy and his crew. Had this particular child left, his absence would have been felt. He and the others would have moved on to other people, other neighborhood events. “L” would have met other people and maybe have another gang of his own. Fortunately, that is not the case, and he will be there the next time the Fruit Loops get on their bikes and ride into the sunset. It’s a good thing, too. There is a lot of “nothing” these boys do and see every day.
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