so, one of the more personal gifts that i received for my birthday/wedding was a framed collage from, arguably, my best/longest lasting friend (an accomplishment for me). the frame brought back an incredible amount of childhood memories. if not for any other reason than to save some of my fleeting memories so that i have them in the future, i thought i would break down all of the parts, and write a little bit about what i remember. if any readers have different, or better memories of my childhood, please leave a comment so that i can maintain an understanding of my younger years.
we had gi joes (big and small), gi joe placemats, and watched gi joe on television. i think it was probably to make up for the fact that steven liked to sing and i cried a lot. the one thing that made us feel tough was when duke talked to us about fire safety. now you know, and know is half the battle (i use this phrase in my classroom to this day).
steven's backyard, where we spent much of our time when steven's allergies were not overwhelming. it was fenced, and i think steven's mom liked the idea that we were more controllable in a closed environment. it was one of the few places where steven didn't get hurt, and i didn't get stung by a bee.
the empire strikes back. the scariest of the three movies, i think steven and i liked the fact that finally the side with the cooler stuff was finally winning.
nintindo 64 was the final gaming console that i ever played (unbelievable to most of my male students). we got in trouble when we played too much at my house, so we would go to steven's house to escape the unwanted scrutiny. 1080 was an important competitive game for us as we tried to beat each other's best times.
candy land came alive for us. the board game was not good enough for us, so we made it real life in steven's backyard. jumping off the picnic table, doing somersaults in the grass, and 'swimming' across the yard were some of the things a passerby would witness as we pretended that the backyard was split into different areas of candy like lemon drops, marshmallows, and skittles. i am sure we appeared in need of a good psychiatrist.
goosebumps was the quintessential book series of our childhood. just enough scary, just enough stupid, and many to trade and share. both of us became avid readers of all kinds of things.
super-soakers, after our mothers decided that just because we played with guns did not mean that we were going to use guns, became some of our favorite toys. steven always had the better gun, but i could always run faster, and was more competitive (maybe i was just mean).
hours and hours were spent playing zelda. we had the guidebook, and beat the game multiple times. however, i do recall a file that we had where the water temple was impossible, i still argue that the game had a glitch; unfortunately, it was probably in our heads, the glitch that is. spoiler alert, it is the princess.
ah calvin and hobbes. if you have not read the strip by bill watterson, read it. if you do not like the strip by bill watterson, do not tell me.
a birthday i suppose, we were together from steven's year one. we come back together every year or so and pick up where we left off. i hope that i have mellowed, i know that steven has become more of person than perhaps i will ever be. i am increasingly amazed by the things that he has accomplished and the events that i never knew about. the friendship has progressed basically unbroken, but there were some difficult years in high school when i thought that i was cool.
venom is hands down the coolest of the spiderman super-villians. we both have a good bit of childhood allowance tied up in cards and comic books.
like gi joe, we had everything star wars. it was an important piece of media. we always thought about keeping toys in the box so that we could make some money, but playing always trumped future financial security.
chang wufei was, by far, my favorite gundam wing character. he was a loner, quiet, really tough, smart, and commanded, what i thought to be, the best mobile suit. it was one of those wonderful things where steven and i agreed and could, when we played, both be our favorite characters.
so that is it, my childhood and our friendship in a nut-shell. i wish i had more stuff like this. as i get older i remember less, i suppose everyone does, and while i am not very nostalgic, i do hope that my children will have as good of a friend as steven was for me, and i hope that my children will be better friends than i was. please add any thoughts to the comment page so that i have a fuller image of my life than i have now.
finally, thank you steven. we should keep in touch (yeah right)
