My Neighborhood

For Christmas, my mom and dad gave us a mug called "My Neighborhood" and it featured West Seattle. West Seattle is not only my favorite area of Seattle, but it holds a special place in my heart for a few reasons:

1. My very first home until I was in the beginning of 2nd grade, was in West Seattle (minus one year in Miami).

2. Dave grew up and was raised in West Seattle and graduated in 1979 from WSHS (also WSHS grads: my dad, his dad, his mom, and his grandma).

3. Dave and I found out after dating, that not only did we live just a few blocks away from each other, but we were at 2 childhood events at the same time - years before we even knew each other. One was a neighborhood grocery store opening in which they were giving kids rides in a fire truck. The other was a small brush fire in a vacant lot between our homes. Of course, as youngsters, we thought it was a blazing fire.

4. Our first date was at Spud Fish and Chips on Alki Beach on April 30, 1983.

5. When Melissa was born, we were living in my grandparents' former home in West Seattle.

I'm probably leaving out several others, but you get the picture. My mom found this mug to represent where Dave and I had our first date, but it holds so many more memories, too!