Being four years old in Mankato, Minnesota in 1962


My memories of being a little kid in Mankato are hazy, as we moved away before I started Kindergarten, but I do recall a bit of what it was like back then. I went back and visited the old house several decades ago with a good friend, who humored me, and we drove around until I thought that maybe I recognized the house, which I did.

We went up and knocked on the door, and I explained that I was doing a "sentimental journey", and that this might be the house that I remember from age four. The man who opened the door shouted up to his wife, who confirmed that they had bought the house from my dad, and had been there since then. My friend and I were then invited to look around. People do that kind of stuff in Minnesota, at least they did in the '90s. So, to be fair, it really hasn't been all that long since I'd been back to that neighborhood in Mankato.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Mankato, it's about ninety miles south of Minneapolis, Minnesota, where I  grew up, and went to school. I learned to ride a bicycle in Minneapolis, but in Mankato I was on the trike.

The neighborhood was brand new then, and it was one of those neighborhoods that was built without sidewalks. Who needs sidewalks? Everyone drives, right? So, my little four-year-old body on a tricycle had to ride next to cars going by. Not such a good idea! I remember the driveway, which was asphalt, like the road, and was very steep. I don't remember wiping out on the trike, but I'm sure I did, as careful as I was. And I wasn't never hit by a car! To be fair, there really weren't many cars around during the day, and they drove slowly and carefully back then.

The pic up there of me and my big brother is in the backyard. It was a big house, with a huge backyard that led down into a ravine. There were of course no fences, and it looks like one of the grownups put a chair out there to sit on the grass.

I'm sure that we knew the neighbors but I don't recall any of them. I had a nice sandbox, and that just about ends all that I remember about Mankato!

It looks like I'm wearing shorts and boots, and that there's an elephant on my tee-shirt.

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