52. Leslie Duffy

Growing up in Hightstown N.J. we were lucky enough to have a family of 4 kids right across the street. In those days, in the summer, you pretty much just went outside when you woke up, and came inside when it got dark.

Because there were a bunch of kids at a bunch of different ages, our allegiances sometimes switched around, but for the most part it was me and Leslie, Anna and Lisa. There were also two boys Loren and Mitchell which came in handy for playing kickball, and there was that one Halloween when I wore Loren’s baseball uniform and my dad didn’t recognize me. But mostly us girls stuck together.

Most of my memories revolve around the summers, because for us, once school let out for the summer, we basically just hung out at home all summer dreaming up things to do. We didn’t have summer camps or sports or lessons, or really anything! Just long months stretching out in front of us to do whatever we wanted.

Back then, your best friends were whoever lived on your street.  There weren’t play dates, and most moms didn’t work, and we rarely drove anywhere. At least in our neighborhood. Everyone was just home.

So what did we do all summer?

I’m sure we were bored some of the time, but I don’t remember it that way. Leslie was an amazing artist, so we would often end up drawing. Or more accurately she would draw and I would color. We’d make paper dolls or magazines or greeting cards.

We also had long running board games like Monopoly or Life or Crazy Rummy.

When we were outside there was tetherball, volleyball, running in the sprinkler, and my all-time favorite: neighborhood-wide kickball games that ran until it was so dark we couldn’t even see the ball.

Life had a rambly feel to it. We would put on plays. Make a newspaper for the neighborhood, make forts, look for ladybugs, make jewelry out of telephone wire, put pennies on the railroad track, ride bikes down Grape Run road, try to make a skateboard.

The highlight each summer was the muscular dystrophy carnival which probably raised $14. But it was so fun to plan. We had booths and games and shows. Although every kid in the neighborhood was involved, so I’m not sure who actually came.

Did we have parents? Yes we did, but they played a supporting role. They were off doing their parent-thing. Sure they cooked dinner and tucked our sweaty little bodies into bed. But the main feeling was wide-open time and space.

And there was the time we strung a tin can telephone across the street from her house to mine. Of course we had to call each other on the real phone to say we wanted to talk on the tin can. 

Leslie was my day-in-and-day-out friend.

We were perfectly suited to spend long summer days together gliding from one thing to the next. Expecting that we would spend our day together and figuring it out as we went along.

She was creative, calm, comfortable in her own skin. She was a year older than me, so she was wiser and more mature. Someone I looked up to.

Leslie died on June 24, 2007. So I am thinking of her today.