tufts of childhood

Summer never fails to remind me of my own childhood, especially as I watch my brother and sister grow up. Lacey starts 7th grade come August and Gavin will be a hyper little 5th grader. It's amusing, to say the least, remembering how I used to do things, how I spent my summers, and how very different I am from my siblings, I who grew up in Orlando twelve some years ago.

I thought, as I am in this reminiscent mode, that I would share some of my own childhood/young adolescent memories with you on this gorgeous summer day. Here goes:

• Slurping orange juice out of freshly picked oranges behind the woods that sat in front of my house.
• Riding my first roller coaster at nine or ten with Aaron and practically having a heart attack while waiting in line, because surely I was about to die. Twice.
• Pretending to be asleep on Sunday mornings when my mom would come to wake me up for church and then giving in, sourly, and making my way out of bed.
• Sharing my first kiss on a dare, in a hot tub, with my next door neighbor.
• Shutting the front door on the first boy who ever asked me out, Kenny - who was two years older than me at the time, who wore square glasses, who smelled like freshly chopped wood.
• Crying in the car on the way to the grocery store when my mom decided to tell me she was pregnant, again, with my brother.
• Watching my friend Jordan puke every time he smelled dog poop. Specifically, watching him puke in the grass and knowing that I would never mix ketchup and macaroni and cheese, ever again.
• Thinking about how creepy the mouse band at Chuck E. Cheese is and getting lost in the tubes just so I wouldn't have to watch them play.
• Vacationing in Sedona, Arizona and seeing a Kokopelli for the first time.
• Realizing just how cruel girls (and boys) can be when you wear pigtails and braces in eighth grade.
• Going to Disney so often that I knew every nook and cranny of all four parks. My second home.
• Playing basketball in my driveway while Shaggy played on the boombox from the garage.
• Laying on my back in my fort on the hottest days of summer with a book in one hand and a notebook in the other.

I watch Lacey and Gavin grow up and I wonder what they will remember at 22, what they will deem important enough to recall at a moment's notice, what they will take away as good times. I wonder if their experiences will be anything like mine, or if childhood is not really as universal as we think.