Exhilaration

Do you remember what it was like to drive alone for the first time? The excitement, the exhilaration, the fear?

Every once in a while, I remember that feeling. Sometimes it occurs because there is a specific song on the radio or I'm headed out to my parents house. I think there are few milestones as thrilling as driving solo.

Where I grew up was 20 minutes away from everything. So when I drove, it wasn't just a few blocks. It was an actual roadtrip.

I was one of few kids that drove to school. With that, I was often involved in mischief. Skipping out to get doughnuts in the next town. Piling three guys plus me in a Chevy LUV truck cab plus I don't even know how many in the bed of the truck when PE was bowling down the street. (I was leaving for work and the boys were walking the few blocks down to the alley. If I remember it correctly, they stood in my path and commandeered my truck. Sadly, they were all my friends so any romance implied there didn't exist.)

The only source of entertainment when I was a teenager was cruising. This entails traveling Riverside Drive...about a four block lengths endlessly. Everyone did it, everyone had their specific places to park and for the most part it was pretty safe. Fortunately, the only bad thing that happened to me while cruising was I met Michael.

Kids don't cruise anymore, the police put and end to it. It was starting to become a little unsafe as the town grew. I am disappointed that my nieces won't have that experience. Cruising was one of the most fun things I ever did. I made so many friends.

During the aunt and uncle visit, my eldest niece drove out to my parents house. It was a little time warp watching her stroll into the house with her car keys in hand and sister in tow.

When I left, the girls were in the car behind me. Images of cruising and hanging out with my friends blended with my reality. Especially as the girls danced in the car to the music blaring from the stereo and waving crazily through the windshield.

It made me happy and remember what it was like to be young & first have your license.