You really wrote this in a way I was able to picture in my mind. And what a very Gen X generation response to being knocked unconscious…slap you till you wake up and not go to the hospital 😂. I’m in the older end the millennial spectrum, and a lot of these childhood dynamics were what I grew up with as well. And wholewheat bread trauma is real!
Amy, I think older millennials caught plenty of the Gen X childhood experience too. The whole wheat bread trauma apparently crossed generational lines 😂
Love this, JP. Reminded me of shooting each other in the ass with BB guns, climbing small pine trees and seeing how many people it took to be able to pull them over, and the old railroad trestle by the creek that we used to jump out of a tree into what was probably water moccasin filled waters and not giving a shit.
Thanks Joe. The railroad trestle got my attention. We had one a few miles down the tracks. We jumped in more than a few times. Looking back, it’s kind of amazing how much danger was just part of an ordinary afternoon.
Thank you for sharing JP. Enjoyed the read and felt really good, as a likeness to my younger years.
I get the world evolving, just is a little sad though, that the kids are a little less adventurous and their own thinking patterns aren't through their own minds and imagination as much, from all the technologies now. Even though encouragement towards my own children is shared. The dirt and rain were a great day out! Not a play stopper lol.
I know exactly what you mean. I’m grateful we grew up in a time when boredom usually turned into an adventure. And you’re right, dirt and rain rarely stopped anything. Appreciate you sharing that.
"It challenged me" is an interesting way to put it, and I think I understand what you mean. The piece ended up bringing back a lot more than woods and bike trails for me too. And it's nice to know I'm not the only one who spent time on those trails and listening to music my parents weren't crazy about. Appreciate you sharing that.
JP--this was a really fun piece to read about all the escapades of your youth while showing just how effortlessly creative and resilient we can be when we're left to our own devices with no performance pressure.
I can relate to having a different lunch as a child. Not because my parents were more health conscious but because my Mom liked to bake her own bread and I didn't appreciate the thick slabs vs. the standard commercial Wonder Bread of everyone else's.
For me, it's not so much that the paces that built me no longer exist. They still do, they're just changed places in terms of people, the condition of the neighborhood, etc.
I think that's an important distinction Melanie. A lot of those places still exist for me too. They're just different now. Different people. Different buildings. Different version of me walking through them. Funny how a place can still be there and still feel like it's gone. Thank you for sharing.
JP - I really enjoyed reading this today. It was a step back in time for me, as our experiences were different yet similar. I remember building the forts with my brothers, and the times felt careless even though they were not. My mother embraced the hippie culture, with the Beatles and the Mommas and the Pappas playing in the background of our lives. Going back to those places (I had left years ago) and seeing them again, they feel small, although they were my world back in the day. And the people, unchanged. What those years taught me was self-reliance and trust in my ability to build something from nothing. Thanks for the walk down memory lane.
“Our experiences were different, yet similar.” That thought kept crossing my mind while I was writing this. I think you’re right. The details are different. The soundtrack is different. Yet so many of the underlying lessons seem to be the same. Figuring things out. Building something from nothing. Learning self-reliance without ever calling it that. Appreciate you sharing your perspective Patrick.
"The kid who crossed those distances didn't shrink, I just stopped needing them to be big." That's a great line. I hadn't thought about it that way, but I think you're right. Appreciate you sharing that Ken.
Loved reading this. Our lives and worlds were different but I can still relate to that kind of childhood and the changes. My city where I grew up used to be more like a small town with vast stretches of empty land, rocks to climb and slide on. Everything is gone. A couple of years I saw one rock that I recognized which brought me to tears.
You really wrote this in a way I was able to picture in my mind. And what a very Gen X generation response to being knocked unconscious…slap you till you wake up and not go to the hospital 😂. I’m in the older end the millennial spectrum, and a lot of these childhood dynamics were what I grew up with as well. And wholewheat bread trauma is real!
Amy, I think older millennials caught plenty of the Gen X childhood experience too. The whole wheat bread trauma apparently crossed generational lines 😂
Yes, we definitely did! I think we are the last non-screen childhood generation. I’m grateful to have grown up more outdoors.
Love this, JP. Reminded me of shooting each other in the ass with BB guns, climbing small pine trees and seeing how many people it took to be able to pull them over, and the old railroad trestle by the creek that we used to jump out of a tree into what was probably water moccasin filled waters and not giving a shit.
Thanks Joe. The railroad trestle got my attention. We had one a few miles down the tracks. We jumped in more than a few times. Looking back, it’s kind of amazing how much danger was just part of an ordinary afternoon.
Thank you for sharing JP. Enjoyed the read and felt really good, as a likeness to my younger years.
I get the world evolving, just is a little sad though, that the kids are a little less adventurous and their own thinking patterns aren't through their own minds and imagination as much, from all the technologies now. Even though encouragement towards my own children is shared. The dirt and rain were a great day out! Not a play stopper lol.
Cheers.
I know exactly what you mean. I’m grateful we grew up in a time when boredom usually turned into an adventure. And you’re right, dirt and rain rarely stopped anything. Appreciate you sharing that.
You're welcome my friend!
Cheers
They say much of therapy is about what happens during childhood. This amazing piece brought me back in the best way.
It challenged me.
I’ve ridden those trails. Been in those woods. Listened to music my parents didn’t like, but they respected my choices.
Thank you for quality Saturday reading.
"It challenged me" is an interesting way to put it, and I think I understand what you mean. The piece ended up bringing back a lot more than woods and bike trails for me too. And it's nice to know I'm not the only one who spent time on those trails and listening to music my parents weren't crazy about. Appreciate you sharing that.
JP--this was a really fun piece to read about all the escapades of your youth while showing just how effortlessly creative and resilient we can be when we're left to our own devices with no performance pressure.
I can relate to having a different lunch as a child. Not because my parents were more health conscious but because my Mom liked to bake her own bread and I didn't appreciate the thick slabs vs. the standard commercial Wonder Bread of everyone else's.
For me, it's not so much that the paces that built me no longer exist. They still do, they're just changed places in terms of people, the condition of the neighborhood, etc.
I think that's an important distinction Melanie. A lot of those places still exist for me too. They're just different now. Different people. Different buildings. Different version of me walking through them. Funny how a place can still be there and still feel like it's gone. Thank you for sharing.
JP - I really enjoyed reading this today. It was a step back in time for me, as our experiences were different yet similar. I remember building the forts with my brothers, and the times felt careless even though they were not. My mother embraced the hippie culture, with the Beatles and the Mommas and the Pappas playing in the background of our lives. Going back to those places (I had left years ago) and seeing them again, they feel small, although they were my world back in the day. And the people, unchanged. What those years taught me was self-reliance and trust in my ability to build something from nothing. Thanks for the walk down memory lane.
“Our experiences were different, yet similar.” That thought kept crossing my mind while I was writing this. I think you’re right. The details are different. The soundtrack is different. Yet so many of the underlying lessons seem to be the same. Figuring things out. Building something from nothing. Learning self-reliance without ever calling it that. Appreciate you sharing your perspective Patrick.
Thank you, JP. I think this story would resonate with most GenXers, as this was the way many of us grew up. It was a great piece.
Hey JP,
When I read your article it immediately brought me back to Montreal where I grew up.
I went back years later and the neighbourhood seemed smaller, not just physically.
The distances I remembered, the streets that felt like they went on forever, the spots that felt enormous and significant, all of it had shrunk.
The kid who crossed those distances didn't shrink, I just stopped needing them to be big.
Nobody called it growing up either, it was just whatever was in front of us that day.
"The kid who crossed those distances didn't shrink, I just stopped needing them to be big." That's a great line. I hadn't thought about it that way, but I think you're right. Appreciate you sharing that Ken.
Loved reading this. Our lives and worlds were different but I can still relate to that kind of childhood and the changes. My city where I grew up used to be more like a small town with vast stretches of empty land, rocks to climb and slide on. Everything is gone. A couple of years I saw one rock that I recognized which brought me to tears.
Sadly the current childhood is very limited.