Remember When

By

Remember when…

Remember when you would walk to the corner store and buy Popeyes candy cigarettes with your public school friends and pretend to smoke like Sandy at the end of Grease?

Remember when you would put both arms close to your chest in a sweater and pretend to have no arms and your friends would belly laugh because it was the funniest thing they saw that day?

Remember when you had a disposable camera and prayed your pictures turned out decently when you went to develop the film, only to find a few pics with someone’s thumb in the corner, added character?

Remember when you would play outside all day long until the street lights came on and you would rush in before your mom yelled your name from the balcony because that was your cue to come home?

Remember when you would bring your favorite stuffed animals on every family vacation just so that they wouldn’t be lonely at home without you?

Remember when you had your first innocent crush on the boy who sat at the back on your class with the bashful smile and a habit of getting detention?

Remember when sleepovers meant no sleep? Sleepovers with pizza, horror movies, and Advil because you just got your braces tightened. Sleepovers with face masks, pranks, and lots of candy.

Remember when your mom took you to get your first bra and you felt like you just received a ticket into some sort of club you weren’t sure you even wanted to join?

Remember when you would go on long road trips with your family and listen to sad music, be overly dramatic in the backseat, and pretend your life was a movie?

Remember when Valentine’s Day meant receiving a little note and some chocolate from everyone in your class?

Remember when you couldn’t bear to go inside the house to pee during an adventure outside in the park with your friends because that meant missing out on even 5 minutes of imagination?

Remember when the sign of a great day was that sweaty smell in your hair, scuffed knees, dirt under your fingernails, and a huge smile on your sunburnt face?

Remember when your biggest worry was which friend you wanted to bring to your family cottage with you that summer, or if you wanted a chocolate chip cookie from the cafeteria that day or not?

Remember when we were in such a hurry to see what all the fuss was about to be grown up?

What the hell were we thinking?