Dennis the Menace

Chapter 5

Whenever I watch the movie Dennis the Menace, I can’t help but compare myself with Dennis. There are three older men from my childhood neighborhood that I can think of who probably played the role of Mr. Wilson in my life. Their names are Mr. Kunz, Mr. Cooper, and Mr. George. They may have had more patience than the true Mr. Wilson, but I imagine I was definitely their menace.

Mr. Kunz lived directly across the street from our house on Eastman Dr. He had the perfect steep driveway for riding any sort of toy with wheels and a great tree for climbing. I would have to say that he was probably the most like the Mr. Wilson in the movie. I was always in trouble for climbing in his trees and riding in his driveway, but what boy can resist such amazing opportunities. He had a fence that still stands to this day that was impossible to see through. I was actually always a little bit scared of this guy growing up, but that didn’t stop me from taking advantage of his yard.

Mr. George lived up the street from us and he was the nicest old man on the block. There weren’t many days that went by that I didn’t visit Mr. George’s house. He always had a snack to share and different odds and ends for us to play with. He was nice old man who cared to share his time with a little boy from the neighborhood. I don’t know if he enjoyed my visits as much as I did his, but I’ll always remember the kindness he showed through his patience with a young boy.

Mr. Cooper he lived next door to our old house. I didn’t really see much of him, but I did spend enough time at his house to wear out my welcome. One day I noticed he was building a deck off of his house. Having helped my Dad previously with our own deck, I thought I was an expert. I spent as much time as I could at their house trying to help him build his own deck. Every once in a while his wife would bring him a can of Pepsi that he would split with me. I was helping in my own little way with the deck, but he never shared the blue prints with me. For that reason I don’t know if my helpfulness encouraged him to build a big privacy screen on the side of the deck that faced our house. I decided that through the years that we lived there he probably did in fact build it to save himself from my own curious eyes.

I love my memories from my own personal Mr. Wilsons, who helped shape my childhood. I learned some good lessons from their examples. The most important lesson I learned was to be a good neighbor even if your neighbor is four times younger. You really never know who is paying attention and studying the example you set.