This picture is the essence of me, Carol. 

Each day the block that I lived on in Queens was transformed into an enormous playground crowded with neighborhood kids. 

As the hours passed, the level of excitement escalated as though we were celebrating the Fourth of July. 

The population in Laurelton, Queens, New York was racially mixed. 

We kids weren’t aware back then how much we learned each day about acceptance.

How similar we were. 

We were fully rounded as people for having lived together in this tutti-fruity paradise.

As a kid, I was never alone. 

I always had someone to play with.

It was magical!  

(No play dates ever had to be made!) 

Even today I still remember the block parties and the special games: Red Rover, Hide-and-Go-Seek, Kickball, Stoop ball, Jump Rope, Hopscotch, and lots of bike riding.  

I still remember the disappointment we felt when our mothers would call us in for dinner. 

But we knew that tomorrow would be another day!