Oh, to be young again!
I remember…
winter coats, really thick colorful gloves and rosy cheeks. My youngest brother and I playing in the snow without a care in the world.
We’d come inside to hot chocolate and yaniqueque. We loved the snow then.
I remember…
eating corn chips or Wise potato chips after getting picked up from school.
We’d go to local parks and have a picnic with mom and dad.
I remember…
the 25-cent blow pops we’d get from the liquor store whenever my dad went to play the lottery.
And shortly heading over to my aunt Chea’s house where she’d have a variety of Entemann’s cakes waiting for us, and a cold beer for my dad.
I remember…
Saturday food shopping trips to Shop Rite and waiting in line.
My father always got us chocolate from the waiting aisle. Snickers for me, Butterfinger for my youngest brother and M&Ms for my two brothers who were home.
I remember…
visiting family friends in Jersey City and hearing “sopa de caracol” as their eldest came in through the door.
And raiding their candy jar. It was for my brother and I anyway.
I remember…
wanting to be a doctor, teacher, actress, criminologist, writer and then publicist.
I stuck to writer in college.
I remember…
wearing flower shirts and pants.
My brothers had a blast with that.
I remember…
ripping my pants one day while climbing over the fence.
My mom wasn’t too happy about my tomboy ways.
I remember…
doing whatever I could to get myself out of going to dance class.
And somehow I graduated at 18.
I remember…
not wanting to go to an all-girl Catholic high school and hating my mom for forcing me to do so.
But that’s where I met the godmother of my sons.
I remember…
all the sacrifices my parents made for us.
And they are a lot similar to the ones we do for our own kids today.
What childhood memories come to mind when you think back to your younger years?