Today’s Scintilla
prompt asks: Post a photo of yourself from before age 10. Write about what you
remember of the day the photo was taken. It may not be a full story – it may
just be flashes of event and emotion – but tap into the child you were as much
as you can.
This is a photo that hangs on my refrigerator door. I think this was the first day of school when I was entering fifth grade, so I was 9 going on 10 – that’s me in the back with my head turned and my eyes shut. Next to me (on my left) is my best friend Heather, and the boy in front with blonde hair is my brother. The girl directly in front of me is Heather’s sister Shelly – the one I go on beach vacations with in the summer these days. Next to Heather is her brother Mark, and next to him is our friend Paul, who I’ve known since I was basically a fetus. I believe the yellow Garfield lunchbox is mine.
Yes, we look like a bunch of early-80s nerds, to be sure. It’s
so funny to look at this and see that I am the tallest one – little did I know
that I only had about two years left of growing to do. Fifth grade turned out to
be the year I got glasses, so it’s probably just as well my eyes were closed;
everything was most likely blurry anyway.
I don’t remember a lot - or anything,
really – about that particular first day of school. But what I love the very
most about this picture is I’m still super-close to everyone in it (except the
two girls on the right – not sure what happened to them, as they moved away a
couple of years later). I’ve beaten this drum before, and I will continue to beat
it - one of the greatest gifts of my life is the fact that I have so many
friendships that have endured over 30 years, and I’m so thankful for that.
2 comments:
This makes me smile!
Well your hair was as on point then as it is now. And I think it's amazing that you're still friends (and good ones at that) with most of the people in the photo. It's so easy to get caught up and let friendships fade so this is no mean feat.
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