My Story in Lists|Where I've Lived (Part IV)

After a year in California, we packed up once again and headed back across the country, this time for Wilmington, Delaware. I knew there was a state called Delaware because it was a piece of a state puzzle my mom bought for us, but other than that I knew very little about the state which has the dubious honor of being called the First State of our nation.

It was summer when we moved, but unlike Illinois there was no year round school. The house my mom and dad rented was wonderful with things we've never had before such as hard wood floors, a basement, a living room and a family room AND my own room. It was wonderful.

I remember shortly after we got there we experienced our first summer lightening storm. It was as magnificent display of power, light and sound. I loved every minute of it, except for the hot, humid stickiness that accompanied the storm. 

We spent what was left of the summer waiting for school to start and picking weeds from the garden (my dad's idea). It was here that I saw my first real fire flies. The evenings were spent playing outside until it was time to go to bed.

There were many things I loved about Delaware. Since we were close to the coast, there were four seasons to enjoy, but the winters were much more mild than Illinois. There weren't weeks of snow, just days of it. Like Illinois, the first night it snowed there was magic in the air and we awoke to a fresh clean blanket of white powder in both the front and back yard. It was so beautiful I could hardly believe it. Somehow I managed to talk my brothers and sister into refraining from playing in the front yard so it could stay clean and fresh.

Living in Delaware gave us the luxury of seeing the history that was the foundation of our country. We were able to visit Valley Forge, Washington DC and other historical landmarks that were nearby. We learned rich history that seemed to come to life because you could see the river that George Washington crossed or the battlefields that turned boys into men because they believe what they were fighting for.

We even made a day trip to New York City...New York CITY!!