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We were born in 1979/1980. People were still getting over Vietnam and Disco
had swept the country.
Dolly Parton had a song called "Jolene," and Diana Ross had records, yes
those big black Frisbees that were five times the size of a CD, as big as
her hair.
The Muppets were our heros, and Atari was the game of choice.
Pac Man invaded our heads and our parents pockets.
We had those bouncy balls that had the handle on the top and you could sit
on and bounce all over the place.
The Reagan administration came around, but all we cared about were our
mini-wheels.
Snack time in Kindergarten was cool and the opposite sex still had cooties.
We liked to play Candyland and Chutes and Ladders.
Tic-tac-toe was still fashionable to us.
Star Wars and their cheap knock-off, the Ewoks, were imitated all over the
nation, ET made us (or at least me) afraid to go into the bathroom.
Girls fought over My Little Ponies, Barbies, and Cabbage Patch Kids.
Boys were more into Transformers, He-Man, and GI Joe, not to mention their
prized b-b guns with those little rubber pellets - yeah, they hurt too.
Pretend was always fun too.
In kindergarten we watched as the Challenger leap from the earth only to
float back unexpectedly, devastating the nation, and plunging them into a
state of mourning.
Cuba was the enemy, drugs were becoming big and Iran got on our bad
side, as did Oliver North.
TV rotted our brains with "Different Strokes," Silver Spoons," and "The Cosby
Show".
Leg warmers, bandanas, and spiked hair, consumed us as we listened to Boy
George and his Culture Club, Bruce Springstein, Rolling Stones, Madonna,
George Michael, Cyndi Lauper, and Michael Jackson.
Pretty soon, hair stopped being spiked and started getting BIG.
Chains, and spikes, and jelly bracelets were the rage, and everything was
"awesome" or even "rad."
People started getting computers like the Apple 2E.
Bubble dresses were cool and the youth were following the path of
rebellion.
Drugs and guns were becoming more and more common, and we watched as the
world discovered HIV and AIDS, and an 18 year old boy from Indiana died from
a transfusion.
We also lived through the Bush administration.
Our generation watched the Gulf War, our own small-scale version of Vietnam,
comes into our living rooms at night with the green night images and the
blazing dots across the screen.
We watched older brothers and sisters go off to a war that we never thought
we'd see, but we made up songs about Saddam Hussein to the tune of "Ice Ice
Baby" by Vanilla Ice.
Bill Clinton became the President taking Al Gore as his VP.
Rolling your jeans and wearing GUESS and ESPRIT clothes made you popular.
Skinny people were beautiful and fat people were funny, but everyone was
crazy for McDonalds.
We started dating more frequently, searching for the love of our life.
Girls in the high schools started getting pregnant and we started getting
our licenses.
We lived through all the crazy fashion flashbacks, the hair, and the
environmental crisis.
We got to our senior year and we waited for proms and homecoming and most
of all graduation day.
We picked up our caps and gowns and all that senior stuff that's supposed
to help us remember the good 'ole days, but some of the things that you remember
most, can't be put on paper.
That day finally came, and you sat there with all of the friends that you
had made over the years.
You looked out at your family and deep down you knew that this was a once
in a lifetime moment.
It was the last time in your life that all these people would be together
in one place.
Yeah, there would be reunions but there was always the chance that one person
wouldn't make it there.
You looked back on your time with these people and realized that it was short
lived and that it didn't seem as if there was enough time for everything
that you wanted to accomplish.
Sports, activities, SAT, ACT, and all that good stuff.
They called your name, your tassel got turned, and you got a piece of paper
that said that you were smart.
Then you said good-bye maybe to your town, and that school and your
friends.
You know that you can go back to visit, but there will be strangers in the
halls and it's not the same.
It's different, and you're different.
But it's not the end.
In fact, everything is just beginning.
