Matt's family lived in a rural area about five miles from a bustling mid-size manufacturing city that served as an entertainment hub for a larger city just over the state's western border. The road where they lived was a very picturesque stretch of wooded countryside spanning about a mile and a half where about seventeen homes were scattered about. The neighborhood was still maintaining values from the decades before. At the time Matt was born three other homes were grouped closely by his parent's home. Next door there was a mason (bricklayer) living with his wife and their daughter, on the other side, an older couple lived who loved gardening, and across the road was a thick pear orchard that led up to a house where a fireman, who had served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, lived with his wife and two children.
Matt's extended family on both his Father's and Mother's side, all lived in Ohio, about 3 1/2 hours away. They loved to come visit on the holidays which were always filled with fun things to do and a lot of kids running around. On Matt's Father's side of the family there were two groups of cousins, "the older kids" and "the younger kids," with some years spanning between the groups. Matt belonged to the younger kids group. On his Mother's side of the family, most of the cousins belonged to the younger kids group. Matt's parents also loved to visit them in Ohio to celebrate the birthdays and holidays. No matter whose house they were at, the holiday dinner table was always packed full of delicious food prepared by the steady hands of the Moms, the Grandmas, and Great-Grandma.
