Lincoln Ave

I remember playing outside all of the time. These days, outside play is somewhat of a pathogen to this technological generation. I remember my sister and I digging holes in the ground with the expectation we would reach China. We dug about maybe 3 ft deep and at that young age, I swore I could hear Chinese people talking. How surprised we were when we learned the truth in first grade. I remember drinking water out of the water hose. I was always apprehensive about drinking dirt but I had no choice. I remember learning every word to the movie, The Wiz. To this day, I can recite the whole movie. I remember playing hide and seek in the backyard. I never really liked that game because I always felt like there was somebody watching me across the street. I remember playing with my friends from across the street. As I look back, we did some pretty stupid things. I remember sitting under the willow tree saying all of the curse words we knew and also learning new ones. I remember playing “House.” I remember the rule of not going across the field to Ms. Johnson’s house. My sister and I always thought she was the devil for some reason. Maybe it was because the way people said to avoid her as if they were afraid the say her name out loud, but we ended up going over there anyway because she had to watch us while my parents worked. She made the best lemon cake I’ve ever tasted in my life. I miss her now. I remember hiding in the house when my father came home from work. I never really knew why. I remember Christmas morning, 1992. We’d just opened our presents and were getting dressed to visit my grandmother. I remember being visited by the Grinch. Except this Grinch carried a pistol and wore a face mask. Usually my new toys would last me about six months before I became bored of them or they broke. That year, I only had about 1 hour to bond. I remember the moving truck with all of our stuff heading out of the driveway. I haven’t been back to Lincoln Ave. since.