20 Years Ago

Me at age 5, I'm loving the early 90's haircut

Childhood and the passage of time is something that has always fascinated me.  I can still identify so much with who I was 20, 15, 10 and 5 years ago that it really blows my mind sometimes that I'm even old enough to remember 20 years ago.  When you're a child it seems that you'll always be one.  You'll always live with your parents, you'll always be in school, you'll always fight with your sister.  Life moves at a snail's pace and even though you can't wait to grow up, it seems like you never really will. 

Lately I've been drawing parallels with the feelings my 5 year old self had about growing up to the feelings I have now about starting my "adult" life - I'm excited and I know it's coming but it's still so abstract.  Each stage of life is so precious and, although it is beyond cliche, you never really appreciate it until it's in the past.  As those who have read my blog before know, I talk a lot about quarter-life crises and the angst that sometimes comes with being a 20-something (it almost puts my teen years to shame- almost), but it's also one of my goals to capture this moment in my life and the beauty that comes with it - although I can't see it yet, I know- with absolute certainty- that this period in my life will someday be washed in the rose-colored, hazy, nostalgia that allows me to view the rest of my past so fondly.  So, for the next few weeks (or whenever I feel like it) I will be giving a snapshot of who I was 20, 15, 10, 5 years ago and then see if I can capture who I am now.

Twenty years ago I was 5 years old.  I was in Kindergarten at a brand new Elementary School, Abia Judd, and I was psyched out of my mind to be there.  I was mere months away from meeting my best friend to this day, Caitlin. 

As with all 5 year olds, my parents were the center of my universe and there was nothing more exciting than when my Grandparents or Aunts came to visit.  My mom took my little sister and I to our little small-town library probably once a week and it was always the highlight of my week (probably why I'm such a bookworm now).  I subscribed to the magazine Highlights, my favorite books were Maude and Claude Go Abroad and Bread and Jam for Frances.  My favorite movie was the Disney version of The Jungle Book (my Dad still cannot hear the song "Bare Necessities" without wincing).  And I loved loved loved the re-runs of the cartoons "Rocky and Bullwinkle" and" Fractured Fairytales" that were always on and I'm pretty sure I wanted to be "She-Ra" and the girls from "Jem".

My sister (who is now my ultimate best friend) and I have had a constantly evolving relationship, so it will be really interesting to make little notes on that in these posts.  When I was 5 Amanda was 3 and she was like my built-in playmate.  We spent hours playing dress up or Candyland, sliding down the stairs on our Little Mermaid sleeping bags.

Being 5 years old was a magical time.  You're still young enough to totally enjoy being a kid, without worrying at all about growing up faster or acting cool and there is so much of the world left to discover- although, when isn't there?  The things you're discovering may change, but there will always be so much more.