One thing I have learned is that good friends have other good friends. This is a series of stories about “friends of my friends”. The post below is the story for October 21, 2015.
My goal in 2015 is to learn or get re-acquainted with 365 people and doing a daily post on the “the friend of a friend” is helping me get closer to my goal.
Thirty years ago in the fall of 1985 my wife and I bought our second house in Lumberton, NC. In 1980 the first year we were married we purchased a 900 square foot 2 bedroom 1 bath home in Cullowhee, NC. If hindsight was 20/20 we would have never sold it but we did.
In 1985 I had just become the Head Basketball Coach at UNC Pembroke (called Pembroke State at the time). Our second home was located on a corner lot in Lumberton on West 22nd and Floyd Ave. We moved into the brick ranch married five years and had two children ages 4 and 2. We also were expecting number three in the summer of 1986.
We believed we had purchased a mansion compared to what we had in Cullowhee. The Lumberton house located in the Tanglewood neighborhood had three bedrooms and 1.5 baths. It had a gigantic covered carport that we converted into a screened in porch. It also had a very large family room/den complete with red shag carpet. The family room previous owners Jerry and Janet Owen had a kegerator in place and when we moved in we followed suit.
Moving into that neighborhood also meant that we became friends with new people over time. One of those couples we became friends were Carol and Buddy Mozingo. Buddy and Carol Mozingo in the mid 1980’s purchased a house on the corner of 16th and Elm Street in Lumberton, NC. That purchase would not only impact their family but ours as well. The Mozingo move to Lumberton was prompted because Buddy was a M.D. and was working at Lumberton Urology with Dr. Rowell Burleson and Dr. Howard Strawcutter.
Carol was the mom to three children Alex, Clayton, and Caroline. Those three children and our three children soon became friends especially Caroline and our daughter Becca. The antics those two girls got into from the ages of four to ten were significant. They both were athletic and extroverted. Living in a house with brothers did that to both of them. They both were gymnasts along with friends Mary Joyce Beasley, Sarah Brady, Stephanie Prevatte, and Emily Nelson.
The Mozingo’s bought their house in Lumberton and I will put this mildly it was in a state of disrepair. They had animals in their house, they had a big hole in their roof, and it was not the least bit charming. It just was big, old, and ugly. Slowly over time the house became a home and a showpiece.
The Mozingo Home on Elm Street today nothing’s liked it looked 30 years ago.
That showpiece became a place where our family enjoyed many good times. The Mozingo’s porch and kitchen became a gathering place where our two families often would become one. Carol became known as “Mama Carol” to our children and they still affectionately call her that today.
Carol probably does not realize it but her and Buddy purchasing the house on Elm Street and sharing it with the Kenney’s during this time was actually a seed that would grow into the Kenney’s purchasing a house in disrepair on Elm Street some twelve years later.
The Kenney house on Elm Street
Ironically Carol and Buddy’s son Alex would help us in the early stages of remodeling and restoration. He was a big help in tearing down paneling in multiple rooms of our house.
If you have children they will have friends that come and go. One friend of our daughter Becca we will never forget is Caroline Mozingo.
The Friend-CAROL MOZINGO-on the left
The Friend of the Friend-CAROLINE MOZINGO
Growing up on Elm Street
There was a period in our daughter’s life where one of her inseparable friends was Caroline Mozingo. They both attended First Presbyterian Pre-School located on Chestnut Street in Lumberton, NC. Picture below shows their class under Marsha Percival.
Back Row -Second from left Caroline Mozingo-Front Row- Third from Left Becca Kenney.
Today Caroline Mozingo is back at work at her Alma Mater The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She works as the Senior Manager of Communications, Education and Outreach. She has also had some professional sports marketing experience working as an intern for the NHL Carolina Hurricanes.
Caroline is extrovert that makes friends easy and has a personality that you cannot help but enjoy being around a lot.
Unfortunately for my wife and I we don’t get to see enough of Caroline these days. When I drive up and down Elm Street I think of the impact the Mozingo’s have had on our family. If they didn’t take the leap of faith and restore their old house I doubt we would have the courage to try.
That is what good neighbors and friends are all about they inspire you and guide you. I also think about two mischievous young girls that have turned into beautiful women that make their parents proud. Growing up on Elm Street in Lumberton, NC is and was pretty neat.
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