This Is My All-time Favorite Childhood Memory and Photo of Me

This is my all-time favorite photo of me. It is also my all-time favorite childhood memory.

This is my all-time favorite childhood memory and photo of me.

You see that dirt track behind me?

I can still feel that squishy mud under my bare feet.

Between my little toes.

And coating my belly and knees.

I can still feel that wet, cold earth on my skin like it was yesterday.

As I ran endless laps around the sprinkler in my backyard.

I was free.

I was free to be messy.

And I was free to be silly.

I was free to be wild.

Most importantly, I was free to destroy the grass.

Because my dad let me.

Because he chose my happiness over the St. Augustine that day.

And he chose me on many other hot Texas summer days.

I was free to be a kid.

In those moments, I was free from fear.

I was free from worry.

I was free from rules.

And I was free from the weight of expectations.

I was free from perfection.

I was free from responsibility.

And, most of all, I was free from growing up too damn fast.

I was free to be a kid.

I was free to just be me.

In those moments, I was free to just be me.

And that’s the kind of freedom I want for my kids, too.

What about you?

A version of this post was originally published April 14, 2021.