Many years ago, when I was still a kid, my father made a comment to me that I found rather interesting. And I although I understood what he meant, I never fully grasped it until I grew up and experienced it. It's not any profound statement or any life changing bit wisdom (and that's not saying that my father never gave me those), but this was just an observation that has certainly become a reality to me.
His statement?
He said that his childhood was like a dream he had, and there are bits and pieces he remembers. And boy doesn't that ring true. It may be different for a lot of people. Many people may have clear memories of a great deal of their childhood, but I sure don't. Just to give an example, I have a friend that was doing her best to convince me that she and I went to Magic Mountain together. And I was pretty certain that she was wrong....right up until she showed me a picture of us together at Magic Mountain. Now that's not a testament of who she is. She is a great friend, and I love her dearly. It's more of a verdict about how bad my memory is. I know the reason for this, and I'll probably address that in another post, but I'll get back to my dad's statement.
One of my earliest memories revolves around a toy set of knights and vikings.
Yes, this is the actual set. Isn't it cool?
This was a birthday present I received when I was either 5 or 6. I want to say 5, but the events leading up to my birthday leads me to believe it must have been my 6th birthday.
Days leading up to that, my oldest brother Ralph and I were having races. He'd be on his bike in the street and I was on my Cheetah on the sidewalk. What's a Cheetah you ask? This is a Cheetah.
Now that's cool. Blows the Big Wheel out of the water, and no, for all you wiseguys out there, that is not me.
He and I would ride down to the end of the street and turn around and see who got home first. As I think about it now, he must have given me a massive head start, because I fail to see how much of a race it would be between a 5 year old on a Cheetah and a 13 year old on a bike.
After a few races, my friend came over and he and I would take turns racing my brother. Only, when I was racing, he would hop on the back of my bike with my brother and ride along. When it was his turn to race, I would stand there and wait. I didn't want to get on the bike. My brother and friend would tell me to ride with my brother, but I didn't want to. Maybe I didn't trust my brother's riding. Ha.
But finally I relented and hopped on the back of the bike. The race began and my brother took off, and during the course of the race, my foot got caught in the spokes and chewed up my ankle. I remember seeing the blood and my sock torn to shreds. I still have scar.
Not long after, my birthday came and I got that toy set, and I vividly remember it being set up on the floor of the living room, and my foot was all bandaged up, and me crawling around to put all the pieces in place.
That's pretty much of what I remember of when I was that age. There's other little snippets here and there of school and friends, but nothing with much detail.
I don't know how it is for you. Perhaps you can write a book on all your childhood memories. I know for me, it's just the bits and pieces. Perhaps that's why I tell young people to really cherish their childhood. It's a time like no other, and it goes by quickly. Before you know it, your childhood will be like a dream you had.
One last note. I went to a high school where there were 2 rival schools in the district that had as their mascots Knights and Vikings. I didn't realize that until this moment. It's not any big thing, it's just slightly odd that in a school district has something like 8 schools, 2 of them would be the toys I played with when I was 6.