Sweet Youth
When I was a girl, I loved spending the summers with my cousins and my Aunt Diane. Even in the 100+ degree heat of Pensacola, we managed to have a helluva time. We’d spend the days in the streets, barefoot and getting into trouble. When the heat overcame us and we couldn’t stand anymore, we’d storm inside and hover in front of the ice cold window unit, our dirt-pasted bodies freezing on contact.
Boys became important for some reason. These were my earliest memories of them…hadn’t really noticed them before. At Saunders Beach in Pensacola, I finally realized what all the fuss was about. A stolen kiss, the obsession over a boy, no matter his age or intellect…he was cute and it gave me a purpose. I try to explain to my son that one day he won’t hate girls, they’ll be interesting to him… but he refuses to believe. He hates them with a passion.
In our youth, we spend so much time believing that adults are an impediment…and that we, alone and despite them, create our happiness. Looking back, I realize those memories would not have existed without my Aunt Diane. She woke up every day with the few pennies she had in her pocket and tried to make sure we had some kind of fun, even if it was a $2.00 toll to cross the bridge to the beach. The worlds she opened up to us on her limited means were really extraordinary.
My little nephew David is flying in today for a two week visit. I have not seen him since Christmas. He and Thomas get along so well, they adore each other. I wonder if these are their earliest memories… I realize I play a huge role in their history… when they both look back 30 years from now, will they relish these times? It makes me want to try very hard to make sure they do.
Boys became important for some reason. These were my earliest memories of them…hadn’t really noticed them before. At Saunders Beach in Pensacola, I finally realized what all the fuss was about. A stolen kiss, the obsession over a boy, no matter his age or intellect…he was cute and it gave me a purpose. I try to explain to my son that one day he won’t hate girls, they’ll be interesting to him… but he refuses to believe. He hates them with a passion.
In our youth, we spend so much time believing that adults are an impediment…and that we, alone and despite them, create our happiness. Looking back, I realize those memories would not have existed without my Aunt Diane. She woke up every day with the few pennies she had in her pocket and tried to make sure we had some kind of fun, even if it was a $2.00 toll to cross the bridge to the beach. The worlds she opened up to us on her limited means were really extraordinary.
My little nephew David is flying in today for a two week visit. I have not seen him since Christmas. He and Thomas get along so well, they adore each other. I wonder if these are their earliest memories… I realize I play a huge role in their history… when they both look back 30 years from now, will they relish these times? It makes me want to try very hard to make sure they do.
posted by Audrey at
8:57 AM
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