My 5th Grade Bodyguard, Sean.

My elementary and high school years were some of the longest of my life thanks to my cleft-palette.  It was a common occurrence to hear people ask, "what did you say?" or "what did he say" or my favorite, "wwwhaat..?" as a perplexed look came to their face. It wasn't uncommon to find me crying...

“Kenny was hit by a car!”

I remember a lot from my time growing up in Queens, but sometimes I can't remember my age at which something occurred. This is one of those instances. It was the early to mid-1980s, summer time, I was somewhere between the age of five & eight years old when Kenny, a teenager and friend from...

That time I watched my house get robbed

It was a warm, sunny day in Queens Village when I peered out the front window of the home I was being babysat. It was the early 1980s and I was between four and six years old. My babysitter was sitting in a chair which was positioned next to another front window to view the...

Are these memories real?

I spend a lot of time scouring the internet for old magazines, mostly from the 1980s, to find advertisements from my youth. Looking at those old ads helps me recall memories I have not thought about in a long time or have forgotten. For the past several years, I have discussed with a few people,...

Melted Tar and Open Fire Hydrants

Living in North Eastern Pennsylvania, there's certain things I take for granted that I would have screamed for as a kid growing up in Queens, New York. One of the biggest things is having access to a river. I could drive, ride a bike or take a walk down the road and dip my toes...

Ghostbusters Mania 1989

In about a week, I'm going to see Ghostbusters Afterlife with my wife and daughter. Though I am forty-four years old, I feel the same excitement about seeing this film as a child waiting for permission to open their Christmas gifts. This movie is the sequel to Ghostbusters II. I didn't think a part three...