The Childhood Memories

My Childhood was....well..
On
August 18, 2008
Well, I lived in a great small City in Michigan called Traverse City. Around 1989 My family moved into this great house in a good neighborhood. I was 5 years old. My family didn't have a whole lot of money but we managed. I have 4 sisters all but one older then me and a younger brother so what ever we had and didn't have did not matter because we always had fun with friends and all. But what I remember the most was how we spent the days and nights in our house. My two oldest sisters had there room in the basement ( I guess because It was big and they could play music all night) I remember hearing New kids on the block or Jon Bon Jovi on there radio and all the Jonathan Brandis, and Luke Perry posters on the wall. They would always have friends over but I was never allowed down there when they were over because I would show off in front of them. They would always be doing there nails or talking about boys from there school. So I would just hang out with my little brother and go outside to play in the back yard. Kindergarten was fun. I use to come home on the bus at noon and get home to my mom waiting for me at the front door. I loved seeing her smile and hug me. When I got inside she would have always been cooking, a snack for me and lunch for my dad (he came home from work for lunch). The smell of her lunch cooking with the sun shining in from the front windows hits me all the time. I would sit in from of the tv and watch the gummi Bears the smurfs and Dinosaucers




Some of our friends from the neighborhood helped us transform my moms old garden into a six foot by eight foot hole that we thought we would dig until we found dinosaur bones. My mom wasn't to happy but my dad let us do it. Man, The holidays were the best. The way our neighborhood looked during Halloween was great. The sky was cold and all the trees were naked from there leaves. Kinda gave it a spooky look. And everyones houses were riddled with decorations, and one or two homes that were going to be walk-in haunted houses. Every Christmas always looked like Christmas: A lot of Snow and A lot of Lights. I remember one night a friend from across the street and I were playing in my front yard on a snow pile that my dad just got done shoveling, I remember him saying " I can stay out as long as I want" just then his mom called for him from the front door " Matthew time to come in Honey". Always makes me laugh when I think about it.

Around that time the Power Rangers and Animaniacs came out. Actually at the same time. I had to choose which one to watch because it came out the same day and time! All day at school I would debate it with friends. I decided on The Power Rangers.


Every morning before school my mom would wake all of us kids up for always saying "get up it's time for school". I would sit up and when she would leave the room I would lay back down. I would start moving my foot to show her that I was still awake but it never worked. I think the only time I would get up without any trouble was when it was a field day. My mom would always find a way to get us the best snacks for those days. Anyways I acted like there was no time to sleep, and that I had to get to school because I had to be a "responsible" young man. Ha. I always liked it when it rained on school days. I don't know why. Just comfortable I guess. My dad would always buy us kids all the new stuff before any of the rich kids in the neighborhood had them; Snowboards(even though I never heard of them before), Roller Blades, Soccer equipment and new "10 Speeds".He had bought me and my brother a new Super Soaker. We had plans on what we were going to do with it to teach those bullies in the neighborhood a lesson....Well, it didn't work. We broke it after we put mud water in the tank. My dad wasn't happy.

I remember the trips we would take to the beach. Country roads with fields of Strawberries on both sides with the windows of our van open and the smell of the fresh air filling my lungs. We would be listening to Bryan Adams or Extremes "More Then Words" on the radio ha. From what I remember the most. We had gotten a dog from my parents friends farmhouse out that way. She had Strawberry fields on her farmhouse property. So we gladly named our dog Strawberry. One day we decided to tie him up in the front yard, my mom told us to untie him and let him run around. We did, he ran off and never came back. Good idea huh? We got another dog named Casper. He was a white Husky. He was a neat dog. My brother and I would mess with him while he was eating just to see him get mad. We were stupid. We had to get rid of him. You will know why soon. A few years later we got TJ. A small cockerspanial. It was funny how his fur looked after coming in from the snow.

Years went by and we grew up a little more. Friends moved away and new ones came in there place. I always had good years in School.

In 1995 my mom and dad divorced. It just got ugly. My mom took us kids and moved down to Texas where we are at today. All of her family lived here so they helped us get back on our feet. But things were different. Different people and surrounding, Music and schools. I didn't like it. I still don't like it. Well, At least I am 24 now and have a family of my own and can choose what is right and wrong.


I left my childhood behind. Everything that we ever owned and loved. Our friends and Schools. Everything. But what I still have are all of those memories. I love remembering. So every time I hear a song that my sisters use to listen to or watch an old show, I will think about how much I loved my childhood. We weren't rich, I didn't always go to school every year with new clothes or shoes, but I had fun. In another time lime somewhere out there, I am still that kid with my family in that nice house with all of my friends down the street and "18 and Life" from Skid Row playing in the basement.

Thank you,

Scott R.
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