Web-based I
no longer have the object, just vivid memories of it. Name Christine Living
off the ocean... Name Lindsay It is a picture of me, not of an object. It is a picture of me from when I was 4 or 5 years old, an image of a little girl exuding total confidence in herself, not shaken or hindered by fears or doubts, but supported by an unwaivering belief in herself and a feeling that she was special. That is what I cherish most from my childhood--the confidence that I had in myself. Name Elaine When
I was five, I was the only daughter in my family. My Mother made
no bones about the fact that having a daughter was one of the best
things that had ever happened to her. I always felt pretty, I loved
my clothes as my mom hand made all of them, indulged my love of
short hair and made me understand that being a female was an honor. Name Chelsea The town where I grew up "protects it's own". It has a neighborhood watch program where certain residents are on a committee to sort of civilian-wise patrol the neighborhood and beware of suspicious types. Today this sort of xenophobic profiling by committee sort of weirds me out, but when Iwas little, my brothers and I just knew that there was this scary dude, the black stranger, who lurked, and who was a bad mother, and we were really sort of fascinated by him. He definitely played a role in my development, and his sort of retro silhouette made my fantasy world and my real world overlap a little bit more in a way I think is probably healthy for a kid. Name Mary
Rather than cling to them, hoping for them to somehow bring back what was lost, I am glad now for the memory of them, of the breathless wonder they were able to inspire in me as a child, because it is the memory of that child and her wonder and delight that informs who I am as an adult. Name Bryan This
is the pin that I got when I graduated from kindergarten. I've always
been a sucker for nostalgia (in other words, a packrat), so I kept
it. I had it stored away for the longest time in that one drawer
that just serves to accumalate stuff, alongside my retired boy scout
uniform and various other artifacts of my youth. I had the inclination
to rummage through said drawer last Christmas when I went home (that's
right, all of my stuff was still where I left it, but that's because
I moved into the basement, which wasn't exactly prime real estate
in my family). I found this pin, and after a brief chuckle, I attached
it to my sweatshirt (my only one, I might add, the one I wear nearly
every day). It hasn't come off since (except when I just now had
to place it on the scanner bed). Name Ann Age 36 Where you grew up Born: Toledo, Ohio | Raised: Lasalle, MI This picture was taken at a place called Cedar Point, my favorite childhood place. It is an amusement park in Ohio, located on Lake Erie. As a family we would sail on our 35' boat across the Lake to the park. I have three brothers, so this is a rare picture of me alone.... Name Shaun Age 23 Where you grew up Johannesburg, South Africa and Worcester, MA After giving this much thought and deliberation, I have decided that the most invaluable thing that I own from my childhood is actually a gift that I was given at the age of 23. I don't really have many things from my youth because I led a very disjointed and fragmented life. I moved quite a bit, and material objects proved to be fickle and hold very little significance or sentimental/ emotional value to me. My relationship with my sister is possibly the greatest gift I have obtained and earned through right of passage transcending from youth to adulthood. The attached photograph which was recently given to me is the greatest reminder I have of the guiding spirit that always brings a smile to my face and validates me as a person, friend, and most importantly brother. Name Liss Age 24 Where you grew up Stavanger, Norway I remember very clearly the photo album my mother compiled after having picked me up in Korea. I am adopted, and can not remember not being aware of this. The album shows a diversity of touristy images of Korea, as well as the first photos of my mother holding me in the orphanage. This album was for me an integral part of the process of understanding the concept of being adopted, of having another mother somewhere else, of having been uprooted from one side of the planet and replanted on the other. I used to look at it with my parents, and at some point, being different-looking became natural to me. I think this has formed me immensely as a person, waking up every morning thinking I was white pretty much. I have never really tried to conform because in one sense there wasn't a point. However, I have always been very conscious of behaving 'well', of performing over par, to prove myself. I am not yet quite sure how this relates to being different, but I am sure one day I will find that it does. I still have that photo album sitting at home, as a reminder that one day I will want to go back to see the land I was born out of. Name Perry Age 42 Where you grew up High Point, NC Still life. I did this painting when i was a sixteen year old high school student. A year or so earlier I had become seriously interested in the idea of becoming a painter. This was sparked by a set of books about great artists my mother had in the house. One fall I read the book about Van Gogh and he instantly replaced all other icons in my life. The other picture is of me working on the same still life painting in my high school art class(taken by someone who's name time has erased from memory). By force of habit I always stood in the back of the room, as far away from everyone else as I could get. Art class was always chaotic and I found it more productive if I isolated myself from everyone else. This is one of the only pictures of me standing in front of an easle and is very sentimental.
Name Harrell
Name David Name Stacey Grandmas
swimming pool in the summertime. Name Daniel My "footie" as it was known, was the softest, most snuggly, powder blue piece of heaven a big fat kid could ever have dreamed of. Put that baby on, zip it up, and you were ready to go. I was the cuddliest thing around. Here, I am pictured with my grandmother as she struggles to keep me aloft. I can remember wearing my footie every day and I think I even had other ones until I about 4 or 5 when they didn't come in sizes big enough to fit me. (Sort of like those damn KangaROOS shoes. Do you remember those? They had these hidden pockets, like a zipper on the side, and you could hide stuff in there. Well, for whatever reason they never made KangaROOS big enough to fit my feet, so I totally missed out on one of the coolest things to come out in the 80s. I am STILL bitter about that.) I have searched high and low for an adult size footie, but I haven't yet found an equivalent. I guess it's one of those feelings you can never really re-create anyway, being all warm and snuggly while your grandmother whispers in your ear how much she loves you. Name Neal Ok, well my object isn't really a picture of mine. It is an image that I downloaded after much searching. Some of my fondest memories of childhood revolve around activities involving my parents as are many for most people...unless of course your parents were abusive or involved in that weird shit you see on Springer. So first I will describe the object. The object is a "Play Tunnel" and was very popular in the late seventies and early eighties. It is made of a series of steel rings for support and covered in thin plastic. Kids stetch them out and make tunnels for forts and whatnot. My father was a work-aholic so when he played with us in the yard, it was like crack-high exciting. One of the things he would do (That no other sane parent would do) is take our play tunnel seen in this picture, and put around him and stand up. He looked like a giant worm monster. He would run around the yard with it pulled all of the way up over his head and growl. My brother, and I would run around him daring to be caught by the worm monster. We would eventually get close enough to be caught at which time my father would bend over me or my brother encompassing us in the tunnel and appearing to be eaten by the monster. He would pick us up and lower us back down to the ground inside the tunnel and we would pop out of the bottom and run around again. This provided us with hours of entertainment. Name Max Eating chicken nuggets + having my favorite girl in the class sitting next to me = smoking Name Carla I love this picture because I remember the feeling of knowing what I am doing. That day we were looking for shells in the mudflats of Sanabell Island. I am covered with mud because i was digging for angel wings & clams. When ever I am out in the tidepools (or covered with mud) i get this sense of being so present and so connected with life and nature and the planet, it is wonderful. That is why I live by the beach and also why I am into gardening (remember the mud). I know I don't look very confident or uplifted, there were other things going on that day. Yet while i was out there in the mud finding angel wings, the other stuff just really didn't matter. Name Meg
Name Jessica
Name Shawn This is a picture of the first kind of vehicle I ever had. It was my father's 1986 Jeep Comanche pickup truck. He gave it to me when I got my driver's license at age 16. With the keys, I had freedom. This silly little underpowered truck was with me through my most wonderful, awkward and turbulent years. I have so many memories of friends and experiences that involved that pickup, it makes me wish I could go back in time and visit that young 16 year old kid and have a Fribble with him.
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