Thursday, 4:30 PM
Senator Jack Hart: My Life Growing up in South Boston: A Different Perspective
"I have not seen the newly released, Boston based movie 'The Departed'. Perhaps I will in the coming weeks if my wife and I can find a baby sitter on a Saturday night.
But the movie has prompted some to characterize life for all in my hometown of South Boston as somewhat unsavory. I couldn't disagree more. While it is true that our small, close knit neighborhood experienced for many years a serious criminal underside, as perhaps many urban neighborhoods did, it was an underside that most of us never experienced.
The South Boston I know is, and always has been, an extraordinary place to live, work and raise a family and I believe that most people who enjoyed the privilege of growing up in the 'the town' understood how special a place it was.
The neighborhood was overflowing with good, decent, hard-working families, many from blue collar backgrounds. Mothers stayed at home while fathers went off to work at the Edison and Gas Companies or down at the Gillette plant. Many were teachers, longshoreman, electricians, police and firefighters who earned a decent wage and tried to provide the best for their families. Most were people of traditional values, of strong faith and fiercely patriotic. As evidenced by the recently celebrated 25 th Anniversary of the South Boston Vietnam Memorial in a moving ceremony, our community has never forgotten its veterans and fallen heroes.
In my neighborhood on East Fifth Street we had all that we needed. We walked to our wonderful parish school, the Gate of Heaven, which was less than a block away. We'd play ball in the streets in the afternoon and on weekends and our summers were filled with more joy than we thought possible.
Even though we were lucky that our parents rented a place on the Cape every year for a week or two, most summer days were spent packing the cooler full with peanut butter sandwiches, Kool-Aid and Zarex, walking with our lounge chairs and beach towels the few blocks to H Street Beach. That was what every family in our neighborhood did. The beaches, in the mid to late 1960's, were crowded and the water was clean. As a special treat at the end of the day we often took a ride out to Castle Island for a hot dog and a Coke. To us kids it seemed like heaven. As an adult looking back, it truly was.
It is said that the most valuable gift that parents can give to a child is a good example. In our case we had the greatest gift of all. My four sisters and I learned about kindness, love, responsibility and caring for others through the simple eloquence of my parents' example. Just as importantly, they taught us of the value of education and worked hard to ensure that we went to the best schools and finest institutions. But my family wasn't the exception. Most other families that we knew in our neighborhood experienced the same love and care that we had.
Like the fine communities of Charlestown , Dorchester and the North End, South Boston is changing through gentrification. While it is sad on one hand to see families forced to leave because they cannot afford the high costs of real estate, we welcome the newcomers to our hometown and hope that they have the same wonderful experience living in South Boston that we have had.
Yes, we have had our difficulties as a neighborhood in the past and we continue to struggle with other issues today, but the overwhelming majority of families had a wonderful experience growing up in South Boston that they wouldn't trade for anything. I certainly wouldn't."
