Life By Kristen

A Bit of Nostalgia

I’ve been nostalgic lately thinking of various things of childhood.

The walk down memory lane all started when I was buying some clothes for my longtime friend Jessi’s baby girl Lyla. There were the cutest onesies at Old Navy with old school Rainbow Brite on them, which I purchased so that Jessi’s daughter could enjoy the fun of something we loved as kids too. In the past few years, a lot of the cartoons and characters of my youth have been making a comeback ( Care Bears, My Little Pony, Strawberry Shortcake), but the original is still the best. I was a huge Rainbow Brite fan, including having my very own bed comforter.

Then last week when I read in the local paper that the last remnants of a wooden roller coaster from a  closed amusement park in Southeastern Massachusetts would be torn down to make way for a housing development. Lincoln Park in Dartmouth, MA was a frequent spot to visit as a kid, though I was never tall nor brave enough to ride the wooden roller coaster. I do remember the super tall slide with its endless stairs and going down it sitting on burlap sacks.

There was also Rocky Point, a similar amusement park in Warwick, RI that was modeled as same idea- small amusement parks opened by railroad companies at the end of the line. Rocky Point had the best log on river/flume ride, a fairly scary haunted house, and a giant swing. My most vivid memory of going there was when I was younger, but because I was very tall for my age, I was too big for the little kid rides; I was also too afraid to go on the big kid rides. After being limited to only a few tame things at the park, my mother wrote a letter to the Providence Journal to complain about the rule- I don’t think we ever went back again before it closed in the mid 90s.

The other day over on Twitter a few of us were reminiscing about great 90s tunes. While I’m not amazing remembering names of songs or bands, the walk down musical lane was fun. It took me awhile to get on the CD bandwagon and was a frequent purchaser of the cassette single for a good portion of my youth.

Last night I was at the grocery store and when I was waiting for my turkey at the deli counter, a woman next to me ordered some bologna. It has been forever since I had a great bologna and mustard sandwich, so I picked some up too. My bologna sandwich was so delicious with my lunch today.

I could go on forever listing various things of years ago that I’ve been reminiscing about lately- favorite TV shows ( Doogie Howser, Wonder Years, Blossom), reading all the Babysitter’s Club books, and so much more.

What are some of the favorite things of your younger years?