When I was a child, I spent summers blasting KidzBop 3 on my barbie radio/CD/cassette player. My sister, Grace and I would splash in the hose and in our blow up pool, which felt so big then. I remember walking barefoot through the Kmart to pick up beach towels and bathing suits. I remember watching a man being detained and walked out in cuffs (he probably didn’t do anything wrong.) Those sweltering days were filled with wonder and joy. Children of all ages romped outside together, tricycles flying unchecked across trafficked streets, worms devoured by the most neglected of us. Beauty and innocence tints these memories a pale orange.
The last day of Kindergarten –after many months of standing unbuckled on the backseat with my head out the window like a shaggy mutt– we were pulled over by an undercover cop. According to him, this could have blown a cover he had been developing for a decade. He said, “I was so appalled by seeing a child with half her body out of the car, I decided to risk my career to stop it.” Luckily, he pulled us over on our street and having ended up in our own driveway, he decided not to detain my mom that day. Again, these cherished recollections bring warmth to my being.
At the age of two, I spoke of three perfumed, fur-coated, alien women who used to take me to “the spaceship”. How desperately I wanted to return to my home planet. Alas, I never made it there as a youngster. It wasn’t until college that I ascended into the cosmos once more, if only for a short while.
I share these tidbits as only an introduction to the child I once was, in the hope that it will inform my loyal and loving audience of who I have become. What I once was lives inside me still, as it does in you, dear reader. I am eager to share my life with the world, as I believe the short 27 years I’ve played this Earthly game have been filled with extraordinary experiences. And I simply have a habit of talking about myself.
Thanks. Until next time.
