Remarkable and poignant. This is a beautiful evocation of youth, timelessness and friendship. How I wish I had had a friend like Al in my own youth, which was much less carefree than what you depict.
The interesting thing about this is that the experiences you relate with your best friend are so real and true-to-life. There is no gauzy-eyed romanticizing and embellishing of events to make them appear as you might want have wanted them to. It’s all true, and memory serves you well when you have such idyllic days to remember, especially those golden days of summer at the campground.
I think I probably am wearing my rose-colored glasses a little bit, but I know I’m not wrong that things were far better in the days before iPhones and social media. We were young, we were goofy, and we loved it. I looked back with great fondness on those days.
We wear those colored glasses, at times, yes. But we don’t really need them. Those WERE innocent, carefree times, and though we remember the essence of the feelings and emotions of being a kid, the concrete details linger with accurate truthfulness in one’’s memory, as you have related so well, and in such smoothly flowing prose.
I feel my own memories are quite accurate in many of the specifics. I am referring to the years when I was 6-12 and living in the suburbs of New Orleans. I would say those were the “golden years,” despite the many ongoing and continuous conflicts with my father.
You make a good point. No time is ideal, but some have particular qualities that set them apart as better--more innocent, simpler. Every season of life has value; those simpler times serve to remind us of what’s important, I think.
Sam, your stories always serve to bring me back to yesteryear! The memories of campgrounds and sleepovers and dreams of being a go-go dancer came flooding back as I read your (excellently-written) recollections. Thank you so much for sharing pieces of your past, please keep up the great work!
This one was quite the trip for me. I hadn't thought about some of these events in years. It's truly something to look back at those pictures and resurface those memories. I sometimes wonder if we have nostalgia about those younger years when time seemed to go on forever because we know in our hearts that we were made for "forever?"
Remarkable and poignant. This is a beautiful evocation of youth, timelessness and friendship. How I wish I had had a friend like Al in my own youth, which was much less carefree than what you depict.
The interesting thing about this is that the experiences you relate with your best friend are so real and true-to-life. There is no gauzy-eyed romanticizing and embellishing of events to make them appear as you might want have wanted them to. It’s all true, and memory serves you well when you have such idyllic days to remember, especially those golden days of summer at the campground.
I think I probably am wearing my rose-colored glasses a little bit, but I know I’m not wrong that things were far better in the days before iPhones and social media. We were young, we were goofy, and we loved it. I looked back with great fondness on those days.
We wear those colored glasses, at times, yes. But we don’t really need them. Those WERE innocent, carefree times, and though we remember the essence of the feelings and emotions of being a kid, the concrete details linger with accurate truthfulness in one’’s memory, as you have related so well, and in such smoothly flowing prose.
I feel my own memories are quite accurate in many of the specifics. I am referring to the years when I was 6-12 and living in the suburbs of New Orleans. I would say those were the “golden years,” despite the many ongoing and continuous conflicts with my father.
You make a good point. No time is ideal, but some have particular qualities that set them apart as better--more innocent, simpler. Every season of life has value; those simpler times serve to remind us of what’s important, I think.
Sam, your stories always serve to bring me back to yesteryear! The memories of campgrounds and sleepovers and dreams of being a go-go dancer came flooding back as I read your (excellently-written) recollections. Thank you so much for sharing pieces of your past, please keep up the great work!
Always appreciate your comments and support, Cyd!
This one was quite the trip for me. I hadn't thought about some of these events in years. It's truly something to look back at those pictures and resurface those memories. I sometimes wonder if we have nostalgia about those younger years when time seemed to go on forever because we know in our hearts that we were made for "forever?"