Sunday Scribbling: Misspent Youth?

November 25, 2007 - 11 Comments by Mishelle - Uncategorized

S U N D A Y S C R I B B L I N G

Dearest Mishelle,

I’m writing you to tell you a few things that you might not know or might not clearly remember. These are things that sometimes get clouded by “the now” in which you live.

You had a good childhood. You were surrounded by family and friends, you played constantly, your imagination worked in overtime, and-simply put-you were happy. The lower half of Valore Drive was yours, you ruled it. Whatever and whenever you wanted to play, all your friends obliged. The pizza place on the corner sold pizza for a buck, and after school everyone would congregate to munch and drink. Remember how you’d walk four blocks down to your grandparents house and [Baba] would have fresh baked bread or cheese struddle waiting for you, with a hunk of feta cheese, some olives, and sometimes some fresh yogurt. Life was good as an adolescent.

As you grew into a teenager, you would feel the strictness of your parents, but that was just their way of showing love. Valore Drive was no more, and the closeness of neighborhood was eradicated. Your mom and dad (mostly your dad) worried-it was only natural-as both of them worked, and you were left home; a veritable latch-key kid. It wasn’t that bad, though. Sure, you smoked your first cigarette while they were working, and you cultivated your love of loud music, but you weren’t a bad girl. You could have done more in middle and high school. Like, you could’ve joined more clubs and stuff, but your life was full. You were involved with your church, dance group, and you had a wealth of friends. You were there for your friend whose brother was gravely ill. Life was good as a teenager.

Well into your teens, a young adult, you’d make some choices in regards to schooling. You graduated from high school, and you followed your father’s dreams. But, how were you to know that wouldn’t work? Actually, it did work, that’s how you met Michael. Fate was on your side and while you didn’t like your courses of study, had you not been at that place, at that time, you would not have met your soul-mate. Your husband of now 12 years. The father of your beautiful children. The man you will grow old with. Life was good as a young adult.

I know you are looking back, asking yourself if your youth was misspent. Yeah, maybe you could’ve been more active in photography club, but you did take the majority of the photographs in your senior yearbook. Yeah, maybe you could’ve joined a sports team, but you did play lacrosse in your senior year. Yeah, maybe you could’ve tried out for the school play, but you did perform with the dance group all those years. Yeah, maybe you could’ve done things differently, but it’s not relevant right now. You are who you are and I think you’re really cool. I think that your childhood, your formative years, your youth, have led you to where you are right now. How can you say it was misspent? You really can’t. Life is good.

Sincerely,
Your Self