When and where were you born? Describe your home, your neighborhood, and the town you grew up in.
I was born at 4:44 in the morning of Friday June 27, 1980 in the bedroom of my parents tiny apartment in Perry, Utah. There were cherry trees behind the building. The apartment was attached to the back of a diner that was famous for their delicious pies. That apartment is now a dining room. I went back to the diner as an adult and thought about walking into the dining room, standing amongst the people while they ate, and announcing, “I was born right here!” But I didn’t. We moved to California when I was six months old.
When I was five and a half years old my family moved from our apartment in Garden Grove, California to a modest home in north San Diego county. My parents still live in that house. It has a huge backyard and when I was a kid we had a swing set and a tether ball, then later a trampoline. The house itself wasn’t large, but we all fit. When we first moved in, I got the room that had two pink walls and two walls covered in Strawberry Shortcake paper. I guess that combination automatically made it the girl room. The carpet was shaggy and golden. When I was twelve I got tired of that carpet so one day I moved all my furniture out of my room and then ripped up the carpet. The problem was, I hadn’t asked my mom before I did it. She found out about my project when I was done. I was afraid she would be mad, but instead she asked me to pull the carpet out of her room too.
Our neighborhood was full of houses that looked very much like ours. There were a few kids to play with, but not many, and none that were my age. We lived on a cul-de-sac and, when I finally figured out how to ride my bike at the old age of ten (yes, really) I liked to ride my bike in front of my house.
I always thought it was funny that I grew up in a town where people vacationed. The sight of palm trees and eucalyptus trees makes me nostalgic for home. Even though we lived a few miles from the Pacific Ocean, we rarely went to the beach when I was little. When I was a teenager we would go and walk on the beach as a family in the evenings, but I assume that it was easier to take older kids to the beach than small kids. There is a heavy military presence in our town, lots of my classmates and friends had at least one parent serving in the military. In my hometown flip flops and shorts are the norm, most people surf or boogie-board, and everyone knows where to find the best Mexican food. The weather there is so sunny and temperate and beautiful that I've been ruined for weather anywhere else.
1 comment:
Aside from the constant fear of losing a child to drowning, another reason your parents rarely took you to the beach was your Dad's dislike of sand and sunburn.
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