Sometimes, I lay back and get to thinking about the places I've been and the people I've known. It would be an amazing thing if I never had to give up any of them. I miss MANY and wish for MANY... people and places are tough acts to follow. I'm content with my life... content with where I am... but a little piece of me is always off remembering the past. Is it wrong? **heavy sigh** Feel like takin' a ride with me down memory lane?

Summer 1987 was amazing. Everything was soooo exciting and brand new. I was discovering BOYS as more than friends on the recess playground. I was building friendships -- lifetime friendships! And I know I was driving my folks crazy... steady trying to claim my independence and pushing the limits.


So what could I have possibly learned from a silly crush, right? Nothing... really. But it was there that I began to realize and dream up the woman I wanted to be. Granted, over time, the woman I want to be is never the same. I am and probably will always be a WORK IN PROGRESS. I knew I wanted to be a "proper" young lady... whatever that means nowadays. I wanted to be cultured and well-rounded. Intelligent. Funny... and a girl worth knowing. Dependable. Honest. Fearless. The list goes on and on. I want to be EVERY WOMAN. Chaka Khan hit it on the money. "I'm every woman, it's all in me..."

At that same camping trip -- me and my Mish-ie (RIP) cemented our friendship. I mean, she held it down for me that summer. She taught me so many things about the human condition. I didn't know it at the time but as I look back, she taught me HOW TO REALLY LIVE. That was her truest and most enduring gift to me... to NEVER hold myself back. To live COMPLETELY, barring nothing. I miss that girl. She left this world on February 10th, 2001. God rest her soul. Cancer stole her from me.

Anyway, that same summer we went to Girls Camp and she mooned the security so they would send her home cuz she wanted to go to the fair. LOL... And she went to the fair and was bored az hell cuz the rest of us was still at Girls Camp. She was just the funniest girl I have ever known. We snuck cigarettes on the beach, acting grown. Stayed up late talking about the next school year and dreaming about boys. We talked about the girls that WEREN'T virgins and what it would be like to get nekkit for a boy. We wrestled on the beach with the boys we knew.... the same boys that turned into prom dates in later years and first loves... ooh lawd... some of those boys turned into the fathers of our children. LOL. We played stupid games like truth or dare... which we still play today. We played spoons and murder... held hands with boys cuz it was the next best thing!

All of this is packed into one summer... three short months. LOL. While all of this is going on, I'm driving my parents crazy. Absolutely batty. LOL... I swear I didn't mean to. My folks didn't care too much for my selection in friends but they trusted that they'd taught me enough to make intelligent decisions. They fought my friendship with my Mish-ie all through my life. LOL... ironic that her life was soooo short. When Summer of 1987 ended, it was back to the business of learning. I went back to school and continued to be on the principals list... that was short-lived... but we'll explore that a little later. Summer '87 continues to be THE most memorable... almost like a coming of age... kinda.