We had lived in our house about a year (already having moved in, gotten married in the house, and had Oliver) when we attended our first Fourth of July parade in Barcroft. All neighborhoods *think* their Fourth celebrations are awesome, but Barcroft’s really is. Why? Because the talent is so very, very homespun.

Who is invited to march in the parade? Everyone is!

Who is invited to cheer people on? Everyone is!

Who is marching with you? Neighbors, firemen, the Barcroft marching band, many floats, and all the neighbors that can possibly make it. We flew back from Texas twice in the 6 years we lived there just to be sure we would be in Barcroft for the parade.

So, in that first year, we were kind of standing around, not sure if we are allowed to march (Oliver was just three months old). The parade route was just one block from our house, and suddenly I noticed: A baby smaller than our own!

Even though Oliver was just three-months old, this baby was WEENSY. Teensy. Brand new. It turns out Eulalia was just over two weeks old. I couldn’t resist saying hi, and comparing notes, to see if their taste of infancy had been as unexpectedly full of challenges as our short taste had been.

Megan reading to wee baby Oliver and wee baby Eulalia

And thus we met Megan, Leo, and darling baby Eulalia. These three would become our closest friends in Barcroft — for our last four years there, we ate dinner together twice a week, once at our house and once at theirs. The shared vegetarian meals, the shared laughter, the shared woes of child-rearing and career development: these were the bedrock of our friendship. Jason got along with Leo, Megan and I rode the exact same bus (and I even talked her into biking with me on some glorious days) and our kids thought the world of each other. They are the only other parents who admonish our children just as we do — and no one blinks an eye.

Yaya, as our kids called Eulalia back when they could barely talk, is still one of the most talked about and beloved friend from back home (along with Sam and Evan and Lillian and Thea), and Allyson writes her cards almost every day.

We feel so grateful for the years that we shared their lives as dear, close neighbors.