I’m 10 days into my “40 Things I Learned As I Turn 40” series on Twitter (X), Medium, and Substack.
I’ve been branching out with different stories, tidbits, and articles, across multiple social media platforms.
The goal has been to express and push my writing mind as I turn 40. Reflect on what I have done, where I am now, and where I plan on going for the next 40 years.
Today, I’m covering ages one through ten. 1984 to 1994. A decade of life.
I am the oldest of five children. My parents did not marry until there were two of us. By the time I was ten years old, there were four of us. The fifth would not come until I was a junior in high school, at age 17.
For the first decade of my life, I can look back on a lot of moments. I remember playing with my sisters and brother. I remember us moving into a bigger house, running around the space, with my dad on all fours asking us if we wanted “to wrestle.”
I don’t have many fond memories of him, but that was one of them. I remember Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I remember Ghostbusters. Hot Wheels. Meeting my best friends Dan, Matthew, and Josh.
I am still best friends with the former two, the latter one passing away last year, at age 38.
I remember joining a bowling league. And then quitting for basketball, since their schedules conflicted with one another (Saturday mornings). I remember Jurassic Park, Angels in the Outfield, and yes, all of the TMNT movies, along with Ghostbusters.
I kissed my first girl on the back of the bus in second grade. I had never been more scared of a bus driver once everyone told her what happened. I had crushes on many girls, in many different grades.
My life skills were making others around me laugh and laugh some more. I was a class clown. I was a scared little kid, also, as my uncle force-fed my siblings and me a steady diet of horror movies whenever he watched us.
Mostly though, I was carefree. I didn’t have any responsibilities. I went from being the first and only child to the oldest of four within five years. By age ten we were all in school.
My memory might be the haziest from the first decade of my life, but I assure you, it was the most I learned from. Starting with friendship, sportsmanship, and what a good parent is (and isn’t), to doing homework, how to read and write, what feelings are for the opposite sex, and above all else, right from wrong.
This is what I learned, from ages one to ten. 1984 to 1994. A decade of life.
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Life, Death, and Everything in Between. 