It was the summer of 1990, I spent at my Grandparents house in Del Rio Tx, I loved it on that 10 Acre farm filled with Corn, lettuce Cantaloup, watermelon and fruit trees.
I loved hearing my Papa's feet stomp up the back porch steps in the middle of the afternoon, that meant it was time for compound, which usually consisted of Little Debbie Snack Cakes or Cantaloup and Vanilla Ice Cream. Nana always made sure snack time was sweet. I love'd the childish skits me and my cousins would practice all day then perform for the family after dinner, I loved hearing Papa reminisce about his childhood hunting stories or his biggest fish stories. I love'd that when I was there was when I got to see my cousins and I loved that there was always an abundant amount of good food.
But most of all I loved that I didn't have a care in the world, I had my Nana and Papa, I got to run around and get dirty playing in the lettuce fields, and seems like I had a constant smile on my face.
I would sit and wait for my cousins to show up so I could see my best friend, Sheli. Sheli is 6 years older than me and man was she cool. She was wearing make up already and her golden hair was always curled so perfectly. I would listen so intently about her latest crush or the cute boys she had seen at the Rodeo that had come to town. I hung on every word she had to say.
I was in my awkward phase of life, I was allowed to wear lip gloss but that did not help hide my occasional break outs, that was also before we had flat irons so I ran around looking a bit like frankenstein most of the time, and clothes, we wont even talk about my horrific choice of clothing. I was 11 years old and my biggest dream was to meet New Kids On the Block someday. I hadn't yet kissed a boy, I hadn't dreamed of my future kids, I hadn't even thought about College, or what I would be when I grew up, but what I did know is I loved being in the sun.
There we are, me and Sheli, lying on our beach towels, with a fruity drink in hand, and New Kids On the block on the cassette player, our kitchen timer beside us. We knew that the best way to get a tan was to use Vegetable oil and lay for one hour on each side. That way we would have an even tan on front and back. hopefully we would get burned a little bit so that could turn into a tan. man were we going to be pretty with our tan skin. For me it was so much more than having a pretty tan, I loved the way the sun felt beating down on my skin, the way I would look shiny from the sweat.
I continued to lay out every summer, I liked the fact that I was Defrosting from a cold bundled up winter, The warmth of the sun was like a rush for me. As soon as spring hits I am
in tank tops and flip flops, sometimes even when everyone else is still in jackets and boots. The first sign of summer meant I could lay out, or hang out at the pool with my friends.
as I got a little bit older I discovered that I could also use a tanning bed and get the same warm feeling I get from the sun, not to mention a rockin tan. I was too young by legal standards so my Mom would sign a release form so we could go to the tanning salon as a family. I dont remember reading any of the papers on the release form, I was just excited and looked forward to being alone for 20 minutes, feeling warm and getting a bronzed tan to show off. I don't remember the warning signs in the room as I undressed to get in the cold bed that would soon give me that rush I loved so much. All I remember is pushing start.
