Childhood Memories - Blog Posts

When I was little I was homeschooled and I was a bit behind on learning to read I think, I was so excited for when it would be my turn to learn to read and begged my grandma and older sister to read to me all the time, I learned to read eventually but I don't like to read on my own, my grandma and sister had read the black stallion and black beauty to me so many times I could read them on my own but for the most part I wouldn't, I would always run up to my grandma or sister and beg them to read the old books to me, they always said why? You can read them yourself now, you don't need me, most of the time with a little persuasion they would still sit down with me on the blue couch in the white room and read a chapter or two of whatever book I had requested, I finally know the words for why I wanted to read with them when I could have easily done it myself, I didn't necessarily want to read the book for the story, the point wasn't reading the story, the point was sharing the story with them, I enjoyed their company and wanted to share a minimally engaging activity with them so I could revel in their presence and enjoy their gentle companionship

Went through my old bookmarks yesterday and found some of my favourites

I explored a bunch of areas in me and my little sisters childhood minecraft world and decided to take pictures. We used all of our animals to tell stories hehe.

Baby chickens and foxes from the nether??? It was all very silly.

Among the stars on a Friday afternoon (2022)

Unfinished/quick sketches of Hudson:

Thank you for clearing this up! I always assumed it was to make themselves feel better about venting and relying too much on a child.

Now I know my lack of a carefree childhood was not the fault of the adults in my life. I was simply born depressed.

on Neighbors

I'm walking home from a neighbor's house, the one that is friends with my mom, the one that coached me with public speaking and got me to nationals as a kid, the one that surprised me with a scholarship when I graduated high school. It's a slightly chill evening and it's beautiful.

(We had been talking about my resumé and how I could improve it. We workshopped both that and my portfolio, and discussed possibilities of studies abroad, and swapped stories on things we missed from each other's lives now that I live hundreds of miles away.)

Now I'm walking home in the chill blue evening and I walk past my neighbor's house, the one with the chihuahuas, the one that over a decade ago rescued me when I got my pants caught in my bike chain and fell, trapped. Never met me in my life but when I fell in front of her house she came running out to help my small crying self.

And now I'm walking past my neighbor's house, the pale blue one on the corner, the neighbor that had a tire swing even though she was elderly, the place my family would go on walks to when I was a kid so the kids could play on her tire swing while the grownups talked. That tree died eventually, and my dad helped her cut it down. She gave him the tire swing to take home to us kids.

Over there across the way is my neighbor's house, the one that is good friends with my grandma and paid me to water her plants whenever she went away for a week. I see her husband from time to time out in the garage when I pass their place.

Over just a little bit farther is the orange house that looks like a castle, with the neighbors who had daughters just older than my sister and I, daughters who always gathered up their old clothing into giant bags to drop at our doorstep so my sister and I could have new clothing. A treasure. Their mom came to my graduation and got me a gift.

Now I'm walking down the road and there are the neighbors right next to us, with the small loud dogs, the neighbors that know my dad well. He always has my brothers over to do yard work and the such. Dad loves sending over the boys to collect leaves in the autumn from our neighbors - most of them are elderly and can use the help, and my dad collects truckfuls of leaves to compost for his garden. A win-win.

And there at the end, of course, are my neighbors who always loved to see us each Halloween. They were always prepared for us, always the first ones we saw. My youngest brother always took care of their dog. When our dog got out, that neighbor let us know and we were able to get her before she got too far away.

We were generations apart, my neighbors and I. Yet that never stopped them from loving my family and me.

I hope they know the fond love I have for them now, despite no longer living there.