Some memories

of a neighbourhood of laughter. A neighbourhood of late summer evening kickabouts, futile games of hide and seek as we all knew the best hiding spots from when we began to walk. Of big brothers and big sisters standing up for you, a neighbourhood of love, a neighbourhood in which every house felt like home. It must have rained when I was a kid, but I have no memories of rainy evenings.... The Sligo Park wall was supposed to be a boundary but it was part of the games, of hide and seek-you could stay lost in their trees for what felt like years. 

The neighbourhood pets who felt like mine, Kimmy across the road, my best friend Ash next door who  would run to greet me when she saw I was coming home from school each day. And a magic dog called Kirk who used to put a pound in his mouth, and waddle up the road to Glynns to get the paper each day.

And the neighbours-the wonderful, wonderful neighbours in the best sense of the word. If I misbehaved at someone's house, it meant double punishment-once from them for misbehaving and then again from my parents because Mr/Mrs.Next-Door shouldn't have to be punishing me! Fitz's on the our right, McGetrick's on our left. Surrogate Aunties & Uncle figures for me, friends for my parents.

I  called to McGetricks one rainy evening toward the end of July, and was warmly welcomed by Kathleen and John-"ahh sure would you look who it is!" Kathleen's voice was one of the most comforting sounds of my childhood. As she and John talked, I was instantly thrown back to being a kid again, part of me felt like if I closed my eyes for a sec, when I re-opened them, Kirk would've been lying on the floor, tail softly wagging, and I'd only be 6, waiting for Mum to come back. 

I have vague memories of one of the times Babs was taken to hospital, of curling up in front of their fireplace with Kirk beside me and escaping into a bookworld. When Mum and Kathleen came in to tell me all was ok and  I could go home, I was actually quite disappointed-I was quite enjoying my alternative book/fireplace/dog-owning life!

As a neighbourhood, as a community, as a family, we lucked out. Our neighbours either side of us weren't just neighbours, they were extended family. I can't  seem to put it into words just how wonderful, how close, how love and care-filled a community it was to grow up in, and I feel incredibly lucky that I did. Kathleen may be gone but I will never forget her kindness, her love, and that beautifully comforting lilting voice that exuded love and care every time she spoke. Always  beautifully dressed, always welcoming, at all times a nurse, a teacher, a neighbour, a friend, to me, she was a lady who will stay in my heart-Ní bheith a leithéid arís ann.