I had so much fun as a young child. I hardly ever sat in my house watching TV or playing unless it was raining or I was sick. Even though I lived in the Bronx, we were safe to roam the neighborhood, play with our friends and know that our neighbors would keep an eye out for us. I was never alone, usually being with a group of friends but sometimes with just one or two others.

If I did something wrong, my parents would hear about it. It was normal for a neighbor to call and tell my Mom that we were found jumping fences or walking without our shoes. Today, I’m afraid to let my younger daughter outside in our fenced in backyard without me watching her every move.

I remember going out with neighbors’ families to the drive in movies or to dinner. My parents would do the same with my friends. And we’d have parties in our yards where everyone was invited. Things were so different then. Now we hide in our homes and don’t even know our neighbors. Our idea of spending time with our neighbors is bringing them mail that was delivered to our home by mistake. Drive In Movies are now a pop up tv set up in our pool.

This morning we awoke to loud banging on our door. It was the police informing us that there was a rash of break ins to unlocked cars in driveways. Thankfully our cars were locked and nothing was stolen from us.

It still is a scary feeling knowing that something this terrible happened so close to home. The feeling of safety and neighborhood is gone. I hope this helps to pull us together.