Project 52. Week 8: Movement
When you think of your childhood, what do you remember first? A sound? A smell? One specific memory? A feeling?
I remember…Summer. There might be 10 other months out of the year, but in my childhood it was always summer. Warm sun and backyard baby pools filled with ice cold water. Our little bodies running wild around the neighborhood playing hide-n-seek and tag with playground slides for a home base. Upside down bicycles turned into “ice-cream stands” with wheels whirring to churn the ice cream as fast as possible. Staying out past dark (and way past our bedtime) to catch lightening bugs and put them in a jar. The beach. Family. Never-ending fun.
Fast forward a few years and in my childhood it’s still summer, but the memories are less nostalgic and more specific, more crisp. It’s the ping of a bat and the sound of a ball smacking a leather glove. Team chants. The smell of sweat, hot dogs, and grape flavored Big League Chew. The sugary taste of Gatorade. The feel of sliding through dirt. Unsightly tan lines, best friends, and the thrill of winning a game.
Of course my childhood wasn’t always idyllic. Nobody’s is. But looking back, I like to think it was. In my memory, childhood was summer, and summer is perfect.
And while childhood has been gone from me for (quite a few) years now, everything has come full circle and I get to relive those glorious days through my little ones. I have no way to know what childhood will be like in their memories 30 years from now. To be honest, I don’t want to think about how quickly that time will pass us by. But if I could imagine, I think it would be a little something like this….
Warm sun and a breeze blowing through the open windows. Best friends. Playing outside for hours until the day stretches into evening… and beyond. Running, running, running here and there and everywhere between houses. Singing and laughter filling up the air. The steady beat of trampoline springs. The feeling of weightlessness. Defying gravity.
