THE WOODS WERE OUR PLAYGROUND

THE WOODS WERE OUR PLAYGROUND

By Richard D Dykes

Before video games, smartphones, and air conditioning, we had the woods—and that was enough.

Travel back to a simpler but harder time in 1970s Southern Kentucky, where childhood didn't always come easy.

Growing up with divorced parents and very little money meant learning responsibility early. The house was heated with coal and wood, Mom worked hard just to bring home a small paycheck, and the children learned to depend on one another.

But hardship couldn't take away childhood.

🌲 The woods became their playground

🧗 Cliffs became their climbing walls

🥾 A quarter-mile walk got them to school

🔥 Coal and wood kept the house warm

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Brothers and sisters learned to stick together

🏡 Country life taught lessons no classroom could teach

❤️ Difficult memories mixed with unforgettable adventures

At only eleven years old, responsibility sometimes meant looking after younger brothers and sisters while still trying to be a kid himself.

The Woods Were Our Playground is a heartfelt story inspired by childhood experiences—about growing up poor, making your own fun, surviving family struggles, and discovering that some of life's richest memories can come from having very little.

We didn't have much. But we had the woods, we had each other, and we had stories that would last a lifetime.

📖 THE WOODS WERE OUR PLAYGROUND

✍️ Richard D Dykes