Feeling Good in the Neighborhood

Gracie Teniente
Humanities 1301
Oct. 14, 2007

Feeling Good in the Neighborhood

I reside with my daughter Jessica, my son-in- law Carlos, and two of my grandchildren David 14, and Tyler 9, in the Great Northwest area. There are several sections of the “Great Northwest” , ours is the Silver Creek subdivision. It is outside Loop 410 and between 1604. We are sandwiched between Culebra Rd. and Bandera Rd. We love it here because it is centrally located with convenient access to important businesses.

We have been here for three years. Our cul-de-sac is very quiet and we have wonderful neighbors. At the top of our street is my friend Melissa Butts. She is a former realtor but now works as an administrator in the public school system. She has two sons. Her husband’s work takes him out of town where he has to commute back and forth. Our neighbors to the left of us Jim and Christina Gonzales have four children ages six to fourteen. Julia age nine is Tyler’s close friend.

The Reeve’s, our neighbors to the right of us, recently had to move. They have three sons all out of high school. One son is in the service. One son is a boxer. He works out and runs every day to keep in shape. The other son is a musician. We sat outside and jammed to the beat when his friends played up a storm in the garage. I really miss the music.

There is a family of five who recently moved in next door. The dad Lupe, works with an air conditioning company and Elizabeth is a substitute teacher. She is going to Texas A. & M. and is working on her Bachelor’s Degree. She will be graduating soon. They have a young daughter Zoila twelve, a son Candido seven, and Lupe Jr. six. They also have a cute hamster called Ginger.

The man to the right of them, recently lost his wife. He has a grown daughter who visits him regularly. He has three huge dogs that he sometimes keeps in the front yard. I am terrified of dogs, so you know I keep away from that side. The man seems friendly enough though.

At the very end lives Tyler‘s friend Drew. His father is a carpenter. He has a little sister named Lily and they have a dog named Carmel, who looks like Pluto.

Across the street lives Julia’s grandmother so our next door neighbors are constantly zigzagging back and forth across the street. She works in a bank. To her right is Marilyn. Her husband had a terminal illness and succumbed to it last year. Julia’s grandmother and Marilyn are best friends.

We have a great view behind our house of the soccer field and the community clubhouse, swimming pool, and tennis courts. Most nights there is some type of activity going on and those stadium lights provide great lighting to our back yard.

Across from the soccer fields is the Silver Creek Manor which houses many short- term and long- term residents. When the community center holds its annual Easter egg hunt, many of the residents volunteer to fill the plastic eggs with candy eggs. They show excitement watching the children in their mad scramble to find the coveted eggs. My church group sometimes takes lap blankets for the residents and provides music on some Fridays. We encourage the residents to join in the singing.

Across the street from the community center is Tyler’s school, Timberwilde Elementary. About three weeks ago they held a community action drive. Students, parents, and faculty volunteers went all over our neighborhood to paint over graffiti on fences, buildings, and signs. We separated into two groups. The only incidents we had occur was Tyler’s friend Briana managed to get paint in her eye and a problem with ants. It was fun but towards the end my car battery died out.

Behind the school the city built a children's kid’s park called the Oscar Perez Memorial Park. It has a playground and a skateboarding recreational area. I think this is useful because it gives the youths a place to hang out and feel connected. It keeps them out of gangs and mischief. Here they are out in the open and having a great time. When I drive by there, I see these young adults in deep concentration trying to master some death-defying moves.

The Great Northwest Library is to the left of the school on the next block, off of Grissom Rd. We go there quite a bit.

I attend services at Prince Of Peace Catholic church on Grissom Rd. My SOLOS (singles openly loving our savior) group gets together and we plan many functions there for fun. It is less than ten minutes away, and the best part is, everyone lives in the Great Northwest community. When we get together out of church, some of us just go across the street for a get together. It is usually a potluck affair. We watch a movie, sing karaoke, dance, play a board game, exchange ideas and just hang out.

Across the street on the library’s left side is a small shopping mall which includes our neighborhood HEB Grocery Store on Grissom Rd.
Culebra Rd. intersects with Grissom Rd. at this point. My grandson David attends school at Communication Arts High School (a magnet school), which is adjacent to Taft High School on Culebra Rd. . It is less than ten minutes away.

Across the street from HEB is the CVS Pharmacy. On the side of HEB is Tezel Rd., also connecting to Grissom Rd. Tezel has a series of restaurants and fast food places, including a Radio Shack that we frequent.

I’ll ask my grandchildren if they want to go for a ride. I tell them I’m going to make an “O” . That is, I’m going in a circle to run some errands and they know it is just in our immediate area. I appreciate the fact that everything is so convenient in regards to the ridiculously high gas prices.
I think there is a great potential for growth in the area. The Christus Santa Rosa Hospital that is under construction by Sea World will have a tremendous impact in this area. This is less than ten minutes from here. Although we have Northwest Vista Community College close by, my daughter and I choose to attend Palo Alto College. We both attend on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. It is a good twenty five to thirty minute commute. I really spend all my week there because on Tuesday and Thursday I am in a work-study program. The people I work with are very supportive and give me guidance with my studies.

I feel a sense of belonging in my community. I know many people and have great friends. Everyone is friendly and watches out for each other. It is surprising to find that most places we need to get to are less than ten minutes away. I think the name Great Northwest is appropriate for this area and am including a small scale map of my neighborhood, and a larger scale map, both from MapQuest Inc.