As previously mentioned, I was lucky enough to get to spend last week in Southern Florida at my parents' new house, with them and my brother. Unfortunately, my brother had to fly out a day ahead of me. We all drove him to the airport together, said our goodbyes, and started talking about our next visit as he was walking away to print his boarding pass (though it's a lovely airport, Sarasota-Bradenton Int'l Airport doesn't seem to be anywhere near ready for mobile boarding passes).
My parents and I spent most of the drive back from the airport talking about how great it had been to all get to do the move down to FL together and then spend the week at the new house as a team. This apparently inspired my dad to pop in the home movies (now all on DVDs, thanks to my brother's tech savvy) once we were home, because as my mom and I were making dinner in the kitchen, I heard none other than myself on the TV, jabbering while eating a piece of rye bread in front of the Christmas tree as a 15-month old. I could never mistake that sound for anything else, as I've seen those videos multiple times throughout my life.
My mom and I joined my dad in the living room, and we spent the next 2 and 1/2 hours watching some of those classic movies...and laughing (lots)...and even crying a bit at points. The last time I had seen any of those was over 5 years ago, so even though it wasn't new to me, it hit me harder than it had in the past. I'm so glad we spent that time watching those, as it reminded me of many important things (and maybe even taught me a new thing or two).
1. Fashion was waaaaaay different in the 1980s...almost unfathomably so.
2. Kicking over somebody else's meticulously organized Matchbox car race tracks will get you pummeled, just a little bit.
3. Footie-pajamas are one of the absolute greatest (and cutest) inventions ever. Especially when adorned with Winnie the Pooh.
4. Little kids are never interested in the actual present they are receiving. Just the packaging. (And my only concern every Christmas morning when I was little was the cookie plate we had left for Santa. I'm not sure if it was because I didn't understand where the cookies had gone, because I wanted some cookies, or for some other who-knows-what reason, but I hovered around that thing like it was gold everytime.)
5. As my dad put it, I was not "much for pants" when I was young. Nevermind if everyone else in the video was in sweaters and flannel-lined pants and thick socks...I was running around in my underwear. All the time. Luckily, I was classy enough to pair them with a shirt at least.
6. My parents had the patience of saints.
7. My brother was so persuasive that he apparently could convince me that there was a switch to turn off the wind outside just under our play table. I just had to go under there and find it.
8. I was a total bookworm even before I had learned to read by myself. I often took books and told myself the story as I paged through. I didn't care about any of my toys half as much as I cared about my books. I guess not much has changed there.
9. I have an antique rocking chair in my bedroom here in Chicago that my paternal grandmother rocked and cuddled me in on Christmas in 1983. She died when I was quite young, but being able to watch that scene on video, and then sit in that very same rocking chair today somehow makes me feel close to her.
10. My brother and I were a perfect pair pretty much from the day I showed up. He was fiercely protective of me, and I idolized him. We could fight like we were on opposing sides of WWIII when needed, but we were also the best of buddies. Nothing has changed there. We are a match made in Heaven.
11. I have the best parents for which a child could ever hope. I often take for granted just how much my parents love my brother and me, and how much their worlds revolved around us when we were young (and still do to some degree, I like to think), and how they created the most incredible home environment for us when we were growing up. I feel so lucky not just to have that, but also to be able to watch it actually happening on hours and hours of video.
12. Maybe, just maybe, there is some tiny part of me that MIGHT want to be a mom someday. (A day far, far away though, obviously) I always swear I never want to have kids, but watching the happy little family that I grew up a part of, and the way my parents and brother were my absolute everything makes me think it may be nice to replicate that environment for a little family of my own someday. But with no perms or acid-wash jeans involved.
My dear family, I love you more than I'll ever be able to say. Thanks for getting me to where I am today, and for making me the person I am...the good, the bad, the sassy...all of it.
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