Goodbye Taylor Loop Road

There is an old saying, "It takes a village to raise a child."   Well my village existed on Taylor Loop Road with a grandmother who lived across the street, aunts/uncles, cousins for neighbors as well as great aunts/uncles, 2nd and 3rd cousins living down the street. 

Growing up my goal was to leave "Taylor Loop."   Anywhere would be better.  I did leave and then I came back.  I left once more and then came back with my little girl in tow.  It's funny but the entire time I lived away from my "village" all I could think about was raising my own child in that safe village  instead of in California where we lived. 

Taylor Loop meant a lot to me as child growing up......

It was where grandma lived.......

she wiped our tears away, fed us a meal, and "took a switch" to our legs when we disobeyed.....she greeted us with hugs and a smile and a place to warm our feet and hands after playing outside in the cold.....she taught us things from the scriptures - like not to envy what others had and be grateful for what we did have.....she taught us how to celebrate the 3rd of July and told us ghost stories...

.she taught us family came first no matter what and family will always be there for you

in the best of times and in the worst of times.

It was where I played with my cousins......

they lived in every direction......we rode our bikes to Rainey's market and to the railroad dump.....we played 4-square in the street.....softball in the field......caught tadpoles in the creek and lightening bugs at night.....we slept in lawn chairs on the 3rd of July so we could hear stories from our parents youth.....

we fought and then we made up.

It was where my parents built our house.....

gave us a yard to play in......taught us to ride bikes then taught us to ride the mini-bike and later motorcycles.....let Robin have a horse (for a short time).....taught us how to play softball and

 told us stories of our heritage.

Eventually the developers came to our village and began dismantling it.....

starting on the far side and working thier way towards us....some said this is a good thing, while others deemed it the end of a good thing...either way, it couldn't be stopped.  One by one property began to sell and larger homes in developed subdivisions started popping up all around....then a new school was built (on the land where my grandma lived, where we held 3rd of July bar-b-ques, where we played, where we existed)....but that wasn't enough....new roads came through and then the name change came about.....Taylor Loop (west end ) became LaMarche Drive.... but through all of the changes my family held on to their property (even though they hadn't lived there in many years)....that is until this week....

This week....

the property sold.

And it is time to say.....

Goodbye Taylor Loop Road

Your village of love will certainly be missed.

For now, the doctor is out.....remembering that a long time ago, there was a village...and in the village lived many important people....grandparents, aunts/uncles, cousins...lots and lots of family