This is to share with you the shear joy of being a child. Do you remember what it was like to find thrills in the simplest of things? I remember being so happy and smug with a simple playing card attached to my "Cactus Flower" bicycles spokes with a clothes pin, pretending to have a ten speed as a young girl. Or riding my Big Wheel in the street and the sound that it made that brought a smile to my face. Sitting in our driveway coloring rocks. Sharing a can of Double Cola or Ski with the thirty-five cents that we found in the laundry mat at my grandma's apartment complex with about 4 friends (it didn't last long!). Sitting outside on the steps of that same apartment with friends when the power was out one time. I have many fond memories of staying with my grandma a lot. She could cut up a chicken to feed 10 people. Best fried chicken you'd ever tasted, too. We fought for the pulley bone. Riding bicycles with my mom and dad through the park and fancy neighborhoods in the 70's and early 80's. The excitement I felt the entire day of July 4th just knowing we would be going downtown to the Ohio River to view the fireworks with all the people of Evansville. What a feeling of belonging that gave me.
I'm feeling a bit lonely and have carried a wistful smile with me today. It's hard to stay sad for long though with such a cute kid, huh? I hope he will have simple and happy memories one day of growing up.
I'd love to hear of your most favorite memory.
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Oh the sheer expression of joy on your boy's face... running through the sprinkler with wild abandon! That was one of my favorite things to do when I was a young child. In fact, I told my husband last night that had it rained yesterday afternoon, as I was hoping it would because it was soooo hot, I was planning to run naked through the yard! That's the joy of not having close neighbors in our very wooded home.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite memories is catching fireflies (aka lightning bugs as the southerners call them) in the dark with my brother. It felt so special to be outside in the summer warmth at night and to run around trying to catch those flashing lights. We didn't put them in a jar; we simply cupped them in our hands and took a close look and then let them go. Over and over. So yes, it is those simple things and those simpler times that I treasure. Nothing can take the place of those easy, carefree days.
Your son is super-duper cute! Ah, the joys of being young. I think my favorite childhood memories are those I would spend with my grandmother. We'd always go for a walk when I was little, and I remember that she'd always have sasparilla (I think that's how you spell it) waiting for me and make my favorite dish (linguica (Portuguese sausage) and spaghetti. We were close until she succumbed to Alzheimer's. I really loved spending time with her when I was little. :) Theresa
ReplyDeleteIt's so easy to get caught up in life, and get busy and to forget about the simple pleasures, like running through the sprinkler...your boy is adorable by the way.
ReplyDeleteI remember childhood being very carefree. I'm sure that at the time there were things that seemed devastating, like having an earlier curfew than my friends...I'd trade those worries for grown up worries any day.
One of my favorite memories is riding bikes with my best friend from across the street to the little market a couple miles away to spend all our money on candy and soda, and stopping for a picnic on the way home....ahhhh good times.