I can't remember exactly when it happened, but some time around the summer of 1973 dad came home from the base there in Kansas City and told us we were movin' again. I couldn't believe it, but I must have been expecting it. We did it on average every three years, and this was the third year.
I was so happy in Missouri. I didn't want to leave. The place was almost a paradise to me. I'd gone from being the new kid to having lots of friends, including one or two close ones. I had all these little kids who thought I was cool, followin' me around like I knew somethin'. I'd grown to love and feel very comfortable in the woods around the neighborhood and I couldn't believe I was gonna have to leave it all and start all over again somewhere else, but this was my life.
I'd even begun to think about girls again by '73. You remember the chick in England who was draggin' me off into the woods and flashing her stuff in school? Well, there hadn't been any other girls in my life since then. Then, one day, out of the blue, I met up with this girl out in the woods, along the path everyone used to get up to school and the strip mall where the TG&Y store was. I was climbing one of the tall trees there and she was already up in it, sittin' on a big limb.
I found myself falling into a conversation with her, and I was enjoying it. Normally I wouldn't have been so open to such a thing, but the freedom and happiness I'd found there in the woods had begun to change me. I felt comfortable there, able to be myself. I guess I was at the age when boys start to awaken to different thoughts about girls. The music of the time helped a little in that process. At some point around there, my friends and I started to hear this song wafting out of our little portable AM radios. I wanna tell ya, this was some hot sexy stuff, when I was about 11 or 12.
10 comments:
Growing up, no matter the roads we chose, was and is ann adventure...great story buddy.
Your childhood reminds me of mine.
All the parental deals were done in the backround and in the process I usually lost out.
The moving around really sucked. I got to San Antonio in 82 and the experience was quite like you mentioned it. I did eventually find some woods thankfully.
I was a piss poor student as well and the schools tried to put me in the retarded classes, I tested high but since I was miserable and moved to so many schools my performance just wasn't there.
Great story you areally stir up memories when you talk about this sort of thing.
a very intersting post and glimpse into your life, thanks.
you are going to have to come over and visit with me.
My heart is filled with remorse. I'm an old lady now. Thinking back of my time with my sons, we did that to them. Moving every two to three years, new environments, new schools, leaving friends and toys behind. Never really understood then what it might have done to them. The father was British and the little boys had inherited his stoicism. They never complained.
Thank you for your story. I will have a long conversation with my sons. Being French and extrovert, it's hard for me to speak with silent people who reveal nothing of their feelings.
Man, I am seriously loving this, and thanks for going into such great detail. I love stories like this. More!
Pat - Very true man. ya takes the hand yer dealt and move on. After reading about my experiences, maybe now you undersand why it is that I enjoy your biographical stuff so much, reading about you going fishing with your dad and such. I love to soak up those kinds of experiences, and Mushy's childhood stuff too. Makes me feel really good. Thanks man.
Hammer - It's a fact. You and I share a lot of things in common. I see that reading your posts.
Editor - Dude, I'd love to hang out there with you. We'll have to do it some time. Fer sure.
Claudia - I'm sorry it hit you like that. The last thing I want to do is make people feel guilty for stuff that went on a long time ago. After all, many of the people who go through that vagabond life come out happy and well adjusted. most of my problem was with the family dynamic, rather than with the places we lived or the moving around. That family dynamic is still messed up. Just read the previous post about my mom and sister and you can see that. I feell for you in a huge way, and hope the discussions you want to have with your kids lift this weight from your heart. Hugs.
Sulldog - I can't say I enjoy bringin' it too ya, but I do appreciate the fact that you like it. Thanks man.
Everyone, the next few will be a lot happier. I promise. I do get back into the woods again.
Dear Fhb.- Thank you for your good feelings and your hugs. I am VERY grateful that I read your post. Talking with my adult sons about their younger years will lead us to a deeper, better relationship. The movings had to be done but I owe them an apology for never including them in any of the decision-makings. Even at 7 and 9, children can help you to choose a new house. It's easier then for them to call it home.
Will certainly read many of your previous posts. Wishing you the best.
I moved around a lot...attending 9 different schools through high school...and I learned to try and make friends or to get along with myself. Me, myself, and I had a ball...usually more than when we played with THEM!
I'm sad for ya dude, wish you could have lived in Waverly or Harriman, we'd had a ball.
Even though I grew up an army brat, the moves really slowed down from 9 - 18 and I only moved one more time in that time frame, but it was always hard starting over each year and being the new kid -- especially off-base where there weren't a lot of new kids starting out. Youth really is wasted on the young, it never ceases to amaze me how cruel kids can be. I often wonder if they don't know any better or just don't care.
Claudia - I'm glad to hear that you're not beating yourself up over the past. Remember, it was my particular family dynamic that really caused all the trouble. The moving around just complicated things more than they already were. I hope you enjoy the talk with your kids. Feel free to come back and tell us how it went. Don't be a stranger.
Mushy - Yea, I think you dealt with it a lot the same way my sister did. Yea, I dream about that often. We'd a had fun.
Becky - I think a lot of it is a sort of tribal self defense mechanism. You gang up on someone else to keep the sharks off of you. Eat or be eaten, maybe. Then there's the kids who learn how to do that stuff at home, watching their folks. Then there's the kids that are just mean, and need a beatin'! I was too much of a baby then to try to defend myself. Too outnumbered. Once you get used to backing down it stays with ya. That's the thing I really regret.
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