Rachel Matthews:  

Idyllic Childhood in El Sereno The interesting thing about growing up in the suburb of El Sereno in Hillside Village was (figuratively speaking) living in a bubble, By the early 1960's, the majority of the Italians had moved out of the neighborhood, and a few Americans from Mexican descent like my father moved in. There were still a few Whites - like Mr. Eden who lived two houses down from us and remained our neighbor for many years. My parents were protective over me and shielded me from a lot of negative things; so for the most part, I had an idyllic childhood. Unlike other parents who were in their early 20's with children, my father and mother became parents later in life. My father was in his mid forty's and my mother was in her mid thirties when I was born. My father was born in the U.S. in 1919 and was 10 years old during the Great Depression. He was from "The Greatest Generation." He knew the meaning of tough times, the value of a dollar, and didn't believe in credit cards. He was a Veteran of World War II who was proud of America, valued loyalty and respect, wasn't afraid of making tough decisions, and getting the job done. Gosh, they don't make men like that anymore. From the time that I was knee high, I thought he was superman. He was my HERO. By the time I was born, my parents friend's children were young adults and my parents were the oldest on the block with infants. This was an oddity. With this in mind, my parents had two sets of friends: an older set and younger set: The latter of which had children our age. On Friday nights from home, I could hear the Wilson High School band playing while some of the lights from the football field illuminated portions of our backyard. It was great! As a child, my neighbors and I would play hide-n-go-seek. In summertime, my family would have BBQ's in the backyard with friends and family. I can almost smell the carne asada, hot dogs, my mothers beans and rice (which were the best), potato salad, tomatillo and red salsa, and of course...homemade tortillas. The wives were in the patio catching up on the latest family updates, while the husbands were near the BBQ telling jokes. In this magical and happy childhood, everyone was married and there was no such thing as divorce. There was laughter and children were playing. For dessert we had cantelope and watermelon. Each of us got a big slice! It couldn't get any better. With all of this going on, you could hear the periodic cheers of the audience in the football field, and the crowd chanting - WILSON, WILSON, WILSON., while Mexican Polka songs could be heard on the record player. Those were the days. During the week when I came home from school, I remember the quesadillas and snacks that my mother made, and the wonderful aroma of something always cooking in the kitchen. Remember Hamburger Helper and Spam, I do. Times were tough, but my mother made things stretch, and we never complained, because that's just the way it was. At dinner time, we all ate together as a family and talked about our day at school. I was restricted as to the T.V. programs that I was permitted to watch, and remember re-runs of Ozzie and Harriett, and enjoying episodes of Little House on the Praire, and the Waltons. We watched these shows "as a family" together. I guess you could say this was "family night" before the term was invented. In my teens, the Popular T.V programs to watch were Fantasy Island with Ricardo Montalban, the Love Boat, and of course, I Love Lucy with Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball, which we all loved. A memorable visit to my neighborhood was when in the early 1970s, the President at the time, Jimmy Carter accepted an invitation to come to our neighborhood: in El Sereno: Hillside Village! Imagine that... It was incredible. From the west side of the mountain down Wilson High, barriers were set up by law enforcement and CA Driver's licenses and IDs were checked to ensure that anyone entering our neighborhood was a resident. As news spread of his event, everyone was excited and proud. As the President's motorcade slowly passed to enter our neighborhood and his rear right passenger window opened, he waved to all of us. I saw his face and his million dollar smile, and he actually looked at me. I kno...Expand for more