I remember growing up in the seventies where the outdoors was where I felt most at home. I, with my sister spend most our childhood in the open air, where the neighborhood kids quickly became our best friends.

We met daily at the sidewalk, in front of our apartment block for talks, exchanging of treats and spontaneously running to a playful idea that came to mind. We ran everywhere, around our building, going in and out of friends' homes, making the whole neighborhood our playground.

We made it a point to ask our parents to get to the parks to ride our favorite slides and swings, or the merry-go-round where we spun dizzy till we fell off onto sand the sun had warmed.

These were our days growing up in the seventies where there was not cellphone or widespread use of internet, rather we shared comic books and went to church and learned about the Bible and loving God.

I remember at church where we had to do a scrapbook rendition of the Ten Commandments, and this was our schooling- to love your neighbor as yourself. We loved our neighbors and enjoyed being with them and they with us. We grew up inviting one another to our homes where we shared meals and laughter together and would meet again at the end of the week at church services for worship.

These were simple days.