Holly Place girls
I grew up in a small community in the southern eastern tip of The Bronx called Silver Beach part of the larger neighborhood of Throggs Neck (two ‘g’s no matter what Robert Moses says). Silver Beach was and still is full of children. It remains a great place to grow up. We spent the summers swimming in the East River, playing kickball in the streets and when we had enough kids, ringolerio (ringolevio?).
I could write a lot about Silver Beach and this particular, peculiar part of The Bronx, and maybe I will, but not today. When I was seven we moved to Holly Place, home to four other girls who were also around my age. They were all friends already and they accepted me and were keen to play in the finished basement of our new house.
Emily and I went to a different school from Ann Marie and Nicole. Liza was 3 years older than all of us and also went to a different school. We played after school and on weekends. Its hard to remember exactly when we all stopped hanging out. Probably around thirteen with the call of lipstick and boys. But even though we didn’t hang out like we did when we were children, we still would see each other in the neighborhood, on our street.
Time passed. We all went to different high schools and then colleges. Ann Marie’s mother moved from the block. Liza invited us all to her wedding and then moved up to Westchester. Emily stayed in the neighborhood. Me? well, you know, nomadic homebody.
In between my move from Japan to my move to Spain, a reunion of sorts was planned and all the mothers and daughters had dinner together one night. It was fun and we promised to do it again.
With all the moms in 2008
And every time I visit The Bronx, we do get together. What is notable about our dinners is that while we are all so different now as adults, we still can spend hours talking, laughing, reminiscing. Oftentimes our conversations are quite personal. Sharing thoughts that we might not even share with our best friends.
It seems special and it is.
Our most recent dinner
Summe 2014
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