Free Republic

Early in our life, my wife and I lived in Springfield, Oregon.  When my wife and I lived there, we lived in an undesirable location.  We were young, in college, and couldn’t afford any better.  The apartments we lived in certainly did not house the upper echelon of society.  Drugs, foul language, fights, crime, and yes, even shootings were characteristic of the area.  Despite the chaos surrounding us, we created two little 5×8 strips of lawn next to our back patio.  We tried to make lemonade out of lemons.  Years after having moved, we would drive by where we once...