I Remember (Friends Part 1)

Sometimes I look back on my childhood and remember certain things only now I have the ability to understand what it meant. See, when you're young you kind of just go with the flow. You know what you want and you do what you can to get it without really looking for any depth with in it. Hindsight is always 20/20 and insight is invaluable.

I remember all of my close friends since I was around four. I remember my first close friend was Chloe Burns. She lived across the street and when she was at my house we played with G.I. Joe action figures and when I was at hers we played with Barbies. Back then we didn't understand why we weren't allowed to spend the night at each others house. Looking back on it now, I suspect our parents didn't quite know what to do about our closeness. We were inseparable and we rarely ever played with other kids. The few times we did we were always with the group together. That may have also been an inspiring factor in to why my parents took me out of public school. 

I was in third grade but I still remember my mother sitting me down and asking me if I wanted to stay in school or do school at home. Back then, taking school at home was the most amazing choice I'd ever heard so, of course, I jumped on it. I wonder if I really had a choice. Now, I would never make that choice again because it made my life so hard as I got older. I'm happy that I ended up back in public school with enough time to find myself. I'm also happy my brother made it in to public school before he really started growing up. He has a head start on me in that aspect.

I remember my second close friend was Chris (I can't, for the life of me remember his last name). We called his mom Miss Lisa and she always brought the best snacks when we went out to do things. Our mothers bought him and me season passes to Wet n' Wild every year for at least three years. I loved our trips to the water park. Chris's house was the house that I snuck over to to watch the things I wasn't allowed to watch at home like Power Rangers and Goosebumps. Eventually, my parents yielded and allowed me to watch one TV show a week and I had to choose which one was the most important. I chose Power Rangers. I suspect Miss Lisa probably had a conversation with my mother about it and she gave in.

My brother, in those days, was too young to hang out with friends on his own so I don't have a lot of memories with him in these early stages. In fact, he and I only shared friends for maybe three or four years. He and I have pretty much always had our own groups of friends. When I got a little older and after Chris moved away, however, all of the kids on our block and on the one behind us would get together and do things. That group houses some of my fondest memories in my childhood. The group consisted of my brother, Kevin Wait, Tyler Wunderlich, Chase Cauley, and Travis Bural. We played street hockey, legos, Total Annihilation, Croquet, and whatever else we could dream up. We built forts every summer and it was always torn down by the older kids before we really had a chance to do anything with them. Looking back, I wonder where our parents were during these periods of time. Despite of how sheltered I've always felt I was, I feel like I always had free reign over our town back then. We pretty much did whatever we wanted back then. I wonder if I'll be able to give my kids freedom like that. I hope so.

I really did have a happy childhood filled with great parents and great friends. My creativity had no limits and I created so many amazing things back then. However, things were not always so amazing. There were fights, anger, and some of the most excruciating heartbreak in store for me. But for then, I was credulous and happy....


...It's interesting to visit Nostalgiacity...