When I was young in Kings Mountain, North Carolina, life was easy and simple joys were found on every corner.

 

When I was young in Kings Mountain, my sister and I took walks on Sunday afternoons to the 7-Eleven down the street for five cent bags of candies. I can still taste the sour Lemonheads, Red Hots, jawbreakers and fun dip we took to eat in church on Sunday nights. We crossed over a winding creek that ran through the middle of town. As we crossed the bridge one day, I slipped between the wobbly metal bar and fell into the creek. Nothing was hurt except my pride.... I think I turned every shade of red as I climbed out and back up to the bank to my ever-teasing sister.

 

When I was young in Kings Mountain, weeknights were spent with Dad while Mom went to classes at Gardner Webb College. She was preparing to be a teacher. Dad helped us with homework and projects and cooked dinner. Most nights it was the same dinner - fish sticks, beenie weenies and Kraft mac and cheese! I can still remember sitting at the kitchen table with my dad hovering over me and helping me draw a poster of the state capitals. Though he doesn’t hover now, he’s still one of the most important people in my life.

 

When I was young in Kings Mountain, my sister and brother and I loved to play in the back yard on the jungle gym with our friends. But the best entertainment was the neighbor’s trampoline. I’ll still never understand why we kept going back after so many cuts and bruises from falling on the springs and getting pinched! My favorite neighbor was Lisa Cloninger, a very cool high school student. I remember singing and dancing with Lisa to Whitney Houston and Cyndi Lauper! Lisa seemed so tall and beautiful with her long wavy brown hair. I wanted to be just like her when I grew up. 

 

When I was young in Kings Mountain, Friday nights were spent going with the whole family to the high school Mountaineers football games right across the street. Even on nights we didn’t go, we could sit out on the porch and hear the roar of the crowd cheering and see the glow of the stadium lights. That was the same stadium where my Dad taught me to ride my bike. I’ll never forget the pride I felt riding that purple and pink bike with a white flowery basket and streamers waving from the handles. 

 

When I was young in Kings Mountain, life was all about church and family. Sundays were spent in church, morning and evening. Dad directed the choir, mom played the piano... and we sat by ourselves on the third pew from the front of the church. I can still see my little brother squirming on the orange carpet floor with his miniature race cars going, “Zoooom! Zooooom!” And of course, I loved to play “Mom.” And Mom loved to shoot darts at us with her eyes from the piano bench. We knew what that meant – trouble when we got home!

 

When I was young in Kings Mountain, we didn’t have much and we didn’t travel to many places, but we knew what love was. And that was always enough.