We sat around my parents’ table. To my right, my 18-year-old niece preparing to go to college. To my left, my 97-year-old grandmother. Thousands of experiences between them – lessons learned, dreams fulfilled, storms weathered. And still more to come.
We sat at parents’ table and laughed until we cried, shared silly and embarrassing memories, and even handed out a few warnings. Most of our memories were centered around our college experiences but there were a few high school doozies thrown in there for good measure. When the laughter died down, my brother asked:
“If you could repeat any 4 consecutive years of your life, without changing a thing, which 4 years would you choose?”
The responses were varied:
College.
My early 20’s.
The first years of motherhood.
There’s no way in HELL I’d relive high school. There isn’t enough money on God’s green earth to motivate me to return to the nightmare that was my 14 year-old self. High school was a 4 year physical and emotional clusterf*%k!
I’ll give you one guess as to which of the above responses was mine.
Why would anyone go back to a time when life was so confusing, our bodies and minds were on the fast track to Crazy Town, and we spent 90% of our time worrying about what everyone else thought about us; when, in fact, they were much too busy thinking about themselves to give us a second thought? Hell to the no. I would never go back to high school.
Wait a minute… Age 14. Confusion. Hormones. Emotional roller coaster. Insecurities. Self-doubt.
Hold the phone! 14 is sounding awfully familiar… Oh, I know!
14 feels an awful lot like 41…
I’m definitely older. I might be a little wiser. But I guess there will always be parts of me that remain 14.
That’s just my normal.
I like most of my years, but I can’t say I really want to redo any of them. If I had to pick, I might say my 4 years in college though, right now!
That’s what I picked, Tessa! I look back on college and think: 4 year paid vacation, living with friends, staying up late, learning so many cool things. While I had a job when I was in college, looking back, it was the best 4 years of my life.
V
OMG you nailed it! I avoid my friends at all costs! And outfits suck! I love this, sharing now!
Thanks so much for the encouragement and the share! And outfits… I suck at getting dressed.
V
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about this circling back! Maybe that’s in part from attending a blog conference last year that had us dressing like middle school 🙂 And from an old friend recently messaging me images from a 1987 calendar we wrote on in way too much detail! Thanks for bringing this up! Glad to know I’m not alone!
Were you at BlogU also!? When I was shopping for my outfit I had a ton of flashbacks of middle school dances, events, and days hanging out at school. I laughed at some memories and cringed at others 🙂
V
Um 3-6 , I could pretty much wear pink polyester daily – judgement free, drink juice, whole milk, and eat whatever I wanted Cracker Jack, Animalcrackers, & Chocolate Snaps – free from worry that my jeans might not fit tomorrow. Grandma was my best friend & partner in crime ( and alive) I had confidence in abundance!