My friends, family and I grew up in a great neighborhood. Driveways only the width of a car separated all of us on Banks Road and all the other streets for blocks. Doors were never locked, there was a basketball hoop on most garages and there was always a mom home to watch you if your mom had to run an errand. In the fall the most popular house was 4 Banks Road, the Faulkner’s house, where the backyard appeared to be the size of a regulation football field - even though it was roughly 30 yards long and 15 yards wide - but it was perfect for anyone aged 8 through 12. When school ended each afternoon we headed to Faulkner’s backyard. We never knocked on the door or asked permission, we just showed up. Soon four of us grew to six of us and probably as many as twenty would show up seven days a week.

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