I often daydream that I’m waking up at my Grandma’s house in the summer of 1978. I’m twelve years old and I just moved to Indianapolis from Chicago all over again, but this time around I lived up to 2023 before returning to the "Grease" soundtrack and Jimmy Carter.
I’m a seventh grader at Christ the King that has forty five years of life experience. I know that in the next year there will be a hostage crisis in Iran. I know that in a few years Reagan will be shot. I will also know that Milli Vanilli is lip syncing and they can't blame it on the rain.
…but all I want to do if I woke up twelve year old me is…
…appreciate things better.
…help people more.
…take more chances.
...make better choices.
I would have definitely bet the USA hockey team winning the gold in 1980. I would have definitely taken the points and bet all of the winning underdogs and I would not have voted for Ross Perot in 1992.
I would have definitely listened better to my elders. My relatives that lived their own forty five year flashbacks. Hear all of those stories firsthand that can’t be found on ancestry dot com.
If I was twelve again I’d watch my Grandma make zucchini bread. If I was twelve again I would go to the library more often. If I was twelve again I wouldn’t bully myself. If I was twelve again I would know that most of those kids in my seventh grade class had their own struggles.
The most important thing that I would do if I woke up in 1978, I would go back and help my mom defeat her demons. Make my mom appreciate herself better.
It would be great to go back and get straight A’s. It would have been great if I ran more and ate better. It would have been easier if I saved the money I made mowing lawns and delivering newspapers.
It would have been better if I really listened to my Grandma’s voice and learned all of her tricks. It could have been a happier life for my mom if I dropped positive hints on her darkest days.
I didn’t wake up this morning on Indianola Avenue in Broad Ripple. I woke up on Lincoln Avenue in Riverside.
Flashbacks and daydreams can be good therapy. Where would you flashback to if given the chance? You don’t have to tell me, tell yourself.
Today’s flashback is courtesy of Walt Whitman. Google “dismiss whatever insults your own soul” and fill in the rest.
...Tuesday morning, Never looked so good. I'm already in, In a daydream.
