When I was young, my sister and my parents, of course, made me feel safe and loved. And my grandparents who are no longer with me now and also my godparents. When I was a child, growing up, those were the years known as the good old days.
Family Memories
The best happy memory was when I had a new baby sister, she is my favourite. I always loved and cared for her during that time of being so little. It was so great to have someone to be with and to do so many things with.
When I was little I played with my sister and sometimes we would fight. But my sister and I were always together as siblings and we liked watching TV, playing video games, playing in our tree fort, and cuddling with our two loving, caring cats. We also baked pies and made lemonade and went camping.
Some games that I did when I was very young were playing I Spy and board games like Sorry and Clue. My favourite toy was a teddy bear dressed as a doctor. It wears green scrubs, a hat and a mask. I have had him since I was two years old. His name is Doctor Bear. Another favourite toy was my Woody cowboy doll (from Toy Story).
One memorable activity was building a tree fort with my dad. We started by planning it out, designing the roof, walls and the platform. We had to work out where to put the ladder to get in the fort and the sliding pole to get out. There was also a slide. I spent a lot of time with my sister in the fort.
Learning Important Lessons
When I was a kid there were things that I needed to do like going to school every day. I did have my friends there and they helped me with knowing where things were and how to find the right classes and that was so very good. Once I knew how to find everything I had to learn everything that was needed for all of my skills. Learning about respect and how to treat people in the right way.
When I was younger, I was afraid of the dark. A nightlight helped me get over that fear. I always went to my parents when I was afraid. Now that I’m getting much older, I’m not as afraid of the dark because I always have the daylight coming in.
Growing Up
Growing up is about leaving the past behind and learning from every single mistake. Growing up also means learning and becoming independent. Everything has changed a lot over the years. I went from education and schooling into the workforce, to my job with CDSS and also at Friends Cafe. Another thing that has changed is my routine of how I travel by bus and train to get around the city.
I am getting to be an old guy now and I am a very independent and responsible person. Now that I’m an adult, I no longer have my parents help to dress me or make decisions on what to wear depending on the season. I also have to do my own laundry, house cleaning, and make my meals.
I can tell you that living in a condo complex by myself and making my own decisions is great. Having a roommate and being a roommate is also good too, and sharing things together.
Staying Connected
I really find that a hard part of being an adult is how to meet and have new friends, how to get to know people, and how to have people learn about my life.
It is hard to keep childhood friends because it’s hard to keep in touch with them when they are gone or when they move far away as well. I miss my old close friends from childhood. I also miss the friends that I made when playing for our local community baseball team. Though they were teammates, I was hoping for them to be more like brothers. Relationships are important and it hurts me when they end. I wish people would reach out and that I could have these friendships back.
Even though I don’t see some friends anymore, I remember the good times we had. I have a memory board above my desk with lots of photos of friends and happy memories. My parents also have photo albums from when I was a child and I have videotapes of family and birthday celebrations from when I was younger. I keep my happy memories alive through many photos.