Do you remember life before the internet??

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Do you mean my childhood?

I remember family trips to the park and how green it always was there. The smell of fresh cut grass, and the sound of the river rushing by. The river where I sometimes fished with my dad and older sister.

I remember bike rides through the streets on the bike we found at a garage sale. It had a banana seat and was rusted up a bit. My dad let me choose the paint color. The paint I chose had shiny flecks of copper that sparkled in the summer sun.

I remember hanging out in a culvert that drained into the creek. At thirteen, I got my first kiss in that culvert. My friends and I shared our secrets and dreams there while we smoked cigarettes stolen from somebody’s parent. I can still hear the boom of our laughter echoing off those concrete walls.

I remember the snow day that shut down more than just the school. The roads were so terrible that even the public transit system was closed for the day. Our mothers absolutely refused to drive us, so my best friend and I walked to the mall where we often hung out. Not much was open that day because of the hazardous road conditions, but they let us idiot teenagers hang out inside where it was warm.

You ask if I remember life before the internet. The answer is yes and with the sweetest of fondness.

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Read Tiffany’s newest book, Love Sick: Stories

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