Pasadena Peeps

(Thanks to Kim for this title)

If you look me up, here's some basic things you'll find. I went to Howe H.S. on the east side of Indianapolis and then on to I.U.

It's too bad that your online profile and public records only reflect education and employment because we are all so much more than that. We are formed by parents, family and friends. And if you're really lucky, you are also formed by a great neighborhood.

Maybe I'm jaded but I don't think neighborhoods have the same kind of intricate bond that they did in my childhood. We were quintessential throwbacks to:

kids in and out of each others homes
parents sitting on the front porch
shared babysitters
grandparents who knew all the neighbors
porch lights indicating when it was time to come in

I wish every child in America could grow up in a great neighborhood. Here's what makes it great in my mind:

The core people rarely move and if they do, they want to come back.
The neighborhood children who still love to come back and tell their version of the stories. And they bring their children.
Pulling on the street and waving at neighbors who you have known forever.

I say once a peep, always a peep. I can get annoyed with some of them but I love them to the core. And that includes my parents.

There's great comfort in people who love you -- warts and all.