"Sounds like you grew up on Wisteria Lane" - my boyfriend

We lived in the same house all our lives growing up. It was one of the first houses built in the subdivision of a growing suburb in the midwest. Beautiful Weeping Willow was behind the 2 story house, in the fenced in backyard of a double sided cul-de-sac. It was and still is a visually appealing neighborhood. The neighbors were nice to each other, they were nice to me. Most everyone living there had built there houses and stayed. Other children to play with in the neighborhood. Sounds great, right?

My friends were scared of my mom as a kid and I didn't understand really. I was scared of her too, just didn't recognize that as the feeling because you know, I lived with her. We're all scared of her. That's normal. As we got older, we learned not to invite others over as my mom wasn't just mean to us, she'd insult our friends as well. In a nicer way but when they left she'd just talk trash about them. Them being children...

She became known for calling the cops, causing scenes with yelling and acting irrationally. Any who, I got off track. Let's start with my neighbor to the left, the Greene's. They had two boys, one my sister's age, Ricky, who would come over to play video games or jump on the trampoline with us and the other, Travis, was older but he taught me how to throw a football.

I remember walking home from school and it being unseasonably warm and sunny. There were several cop cars in front of the Greene's house and Travis was in handcuffs being put into the back of a police car. I remember being confused and hoping he was okay. I didn't think anything really bad had happened, as I've said my mom called the police a lot for trivial things.

However, hours later a cop knocked on our door. He told us that Ricky, had died. My mother's reaction, not normal at all, was to laugh and say "you're joking". After a few more times of that, she got it. Ricky had found the key to his stepdad's gun cabinet. While on the phone with his girlfriend at the time, he shot himself with a shotgun. Travis found him when he came home from school and was arrested for questioning and released later that day. Everything changed for the Greene's that day. I tried to hang out with Mrs. Greene to keep her company and try to cheer her up from time to time. I wanted so bad for her to be my mom for so long. I just felt horrible but I couldn't help her. She never recovered and later developed a drinking problem.

150+

15

Join Us

Read Now

Contact Us

Have a funny story or question? Reach out and let's share some laughs together!