Growing Up with Dancing Dreams

by Lynne R. Dorfman

When I was looking for something to write about today, I returned to my neighborhood map for an idea.  Neighborhood maps can be maps of your street, your backyard, a caping site, or even a school playground. It’s great to remember to do these things when creating one:

• use color (colored pencils as best).
• include important places.
• be neat and as accurate as you can recall.
• include labels of the places.
• include possible phrases to capture a writing idea. For example, next to the label my bedroom might be “I break bed jumping on it!”
• create several maps – a vacation spot, your backyard, grandparents’ house, inside of your house, etc..

Here’s a memory from my map:

The Jewish Community Center was my home away from home during the time I attended Edmonds Elementary School in East Mt. Airy, a section of Philadelphia. It conveniently nestled on the corner of Mt. Pleasant and Thouron Avenues, directly across from my elementary school. It was about five blocks from my row home on Durham Street, so I could walk to and from Saturday morning services by myself. I also walked to many afternoon events that took place right after school.

My mom signed me up for everything. Really – I am not exaggerating!  I went to Hebrew school classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Services were Friday evenings or Saturday mornings. I preferred Friday evenings because my only choice made without my mother (and much to her dismay) was taking horseback riding lessons. Monday was my after-school Brownie (then later Girl Scouts) meeting. Wednesday was dance class with Miss Sharon.