Obviously I have a thing against the sun, even back then. #vampiresforever
So the Internet is doing this thing called #ThrowbackThursday, and apparently I’m the last one to jump on the bandwagon. I decided to post an old photo of me today, just for fun.
The year was 1990, it was around June or so. My good friend Alyssa Hoefener was moving away (Illinois or something, if memory serves), and she had a going away party at her house. I was 11-and-a-half years old, and about 2 months away from moving to Yokohama, Japan. This was the Summer I had been dreading for months.
In 3rd grade I had experienced a growth spurt, and by 5th grade I was the 2nd or 3rd-tallest girl in the entire grade (about 70+ students). Alyssa (left in the photo) was super-cute and petite, and I look at this photo and remember towering over everyone that Summer, and just feeling like an awkward giraffe.
My bangs were impossible so I was into this phase of just hacking them short periodically. Alyssa’s bangs were always cute and 80’s-awesome, but mine just didn’t do that. *le sigh* I remember I had gotten a camera for Christmas earlier in the year, an incredibly basic Kodak something-or-other, and I tended to use it so rarely that I went through a roll of film like every 4-5 months or so. “Photography” was not yet something that I realized one could do as a hobby, haha. I don’t even remember owning those shorts, LOL. Jelly bracelets were the new thing (as opposed to friendship bracelets – soooooo 1989 – and I think my friends and I had this thing about wearing ankle jelly bracelets on our left ankles.
We had ice pops and threw water balloons at that party. I really missed Alyssa when she left. I think I wrote her after she moved and I heard from her once but then that was it. Such was life before the Internet. Now you just Facebook Friend everyone and stalk them silently when you want to see what they’re up to. But I haven’t found Alyssa on Facebook yet. It’s now 24 years and I have no idea what happened to her since then.
You were a good friend to me, Alyssa. Hope you are doing well, wherever you are!
xo
Carly
I was the tallest kid in my class in elementary school. I was in a really awkward stage where I just kept getting taller and stayed skinny. All my friends and sisters were cute and short and I just towered over everyone including the boys. That was when we all started liking boys and getting our first crushes so it was a tough time to be so gawky. I have a Xmas photo towering over all my cousins and having my “lovely poodle do”. My mom cut my hair off and did the short bang thing because I was a super tomboy and she was tired of dealing with my tangled hair. In my day she took me to the neighborhood hairdresser ( not a good choice for a kid) and chop chop. I still have the best childhood memories of friends and lots of fun in growing up in my old neighborhood. Pat S
🙂 I totally relate re: awkward stages! But yes, wonderful memories of friends and family, regardless of awkwardness. Awesomeness. 😉