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 round,
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 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 second grade we watched as the Challenger leapt
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, come 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 tassle 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.