Broadview from 1965 to 1977

I lived in Broadview from 1965 to 1978. My parent's house was about as far south as you could get in Broadview before crossing Cermak Road and entering into North Riverside. This area of town wasn't very big, going only from 13th Avenue on the west to 9th Avenue on the east. Our residential area was bookended by International Harvester on the west-side and the Illinois National Guard on the east-side. Cermak Road was the south border and we were somewhat separated from the rest of town by the train tracks that were the northern border of the houses we lived in. On 11th Avenue, our house was built across the street from Arnie's Air Dome which later became Jade Garden restaurant.
My dad worked at International Harvester, or just- Harvester as we called it. That was the reason we moved to Broadview, so my dad could be near his job. You could do that back then, because people used to work at the same place for many years and my dad spent 35 of his at Harvester. I remember him being able to walk to work which he did more often than he drove the family car, he was a Chevy guy and in our neighborhood it was pretty much Chevy or Ford.
Because of where we lived in Broadview, the kids in our geographical area attended Komarek School in North Riverside. We too walked to school, only a few kids from Beverly Park needed a bus to get there. Most of us at Komarek started out in kindergarten and remained together as a group through eighth grade with a few families moving in or out of the district during our time there.
I've been thinking about Broadview a lot lately and the impact growing up there had on my life. Even before reconnecting on Facebook, my closest friends were the ones I've  known since kindergarten classes. All of our group hit the milestone 50th birthday in 2013. I shouldn't say all, because some of the Komarek Class of 1977 have passed on. I guess turning 50 has been the cause for all of the reflection; that and also the passing of my mother this past August. We have been going through some of her things and have found many fond remembrances  of the Broadview years. My mom worked for Harvester too in an office right on 17th Avenue where there is a strip-mall today.
Our neighbors were all hard working people. In some families the dad had two jobs and in some, like mine the mom worked out of the house. Families sacrificed and lived within their means. Cash was the standard means of payment and I don't recall too many credit cards. We were taught that there was no shame in working hard.
When I have the chance to spend time with these old friends, you can tell that our character was, built in Broadview. We all share a common bond of growing up in a much simpler time when so long as you had a bike, a pass to the Broadview pool, or time to spend at Sunnywood Park or one of the other Broadview parks you had all you needed to get you through summer vacation. We didn't all always get along but be always made up.
I guess it's true that the best friends are old friends and Broadview was a place were good friends were made. I will always look back fondly on where I grew up and wouldn't trade those years for anything.