I don’t know why, but holidays have become increasingly less important to me. Maybe it’s because many of the really important people in my life have slowly dwindled, including my grandparents, father, and both of my mom’s brothers. They were all very instrumental in shaping me into the person I am today. I do have fond memories of the holidays from my childhood though. Below are a few of my favorite.
Christmas. Christmas was probably my favorite holiday. It was a time when the whole family came together to celebrate. We would celebrate at home, and also go out to my uncle’s house. He was a strong glue to our family. He always wanted to pull everyone in for the holidays. After he died, it became increasingly difficult to get extended family together. Growing up in a Christian family, I also loved this holiday because it is a celebration of Jesus’s birthday. His message is by far the strongest during this time of year, and people just seem to be in a more positive mood. Lastly, Christmas was a time when I got presents, which I think all young children love.
Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving was another holiday where my uncle would try to pull everyone in the extended family together. There were no presents, but there were many excellent cooks in my family. Everything you know about traditional Thanksgiving food was present at the table, and prepared perfectly, from what I remember. I was especially fond of the dressing my grandmother made every year.
Halloween. Halloween was one of my favorite holidays because of trick or treating. We would all dress up in costumes and our parents would walk us around the neighborhood collecting candy and other treats. The hardest part for me was that I was a shy kid, so getting the nerve to walk up and say trick or treat wasn’t easy, but the payoff made it worthwhile. It was sometimes surreal seeing all the other kids in costumes, but not particularly scary. It was just a fun time.
Summer. This wasn’t technically a holiday, but if it was, I would rate it as the best of all holidays. The reason why is because it was a period of time when I didn’t have to worry about getting up every day and going to school. I could just stay home, and run with my dog, or play with my toys, or find some mischief to get into. I’m sure it wasn’t my parents favorite time of year, but it was definitely mine. What I wouldn’t give for a long summer vacation these days.
What is your favorite holiday? Did family play an important role in your holiday celebration? Was there someone in your family who provided the glue? What are some of your favorite holiday memories? What would you do if you had a three-month summer vacation every year? Let me know in the comments, and remember to like, share, and subscribe!
There’s probably a lot of opinions about what makes a good neighbor. Personally, I would say I’m pretty tolerant of neighbors, but I can honestly say I haven’t seen anything to an extreme. I have heard some horror stories from other people though.
In general, I don’t spend much time wondering around my apartment building. I tend to keep to myself indoors when I’m at home. The people I know live elsewhere. I’ve met a few of the neighbors briefly in the hall. I might say hello when I see them, but I don’t have much interaction with them outside of that.
I honestly couldn’t tell you much about my neighbors. There’s some safety in that because a lot of people will tend to leave you alone if they don’t know you. On the flip side, if they were really bad neighbors, you might want to know about it for your own safety. It really just depends on how bad the neighbor.
I also don’t think that living next door to someone naturally creates a relationship. They may not even be the type of person that would normally associate with you. At best, I just try to stay on friendly terms with them, and hope they don’t do highly disruptive things, like playing the drums at midnight, or other noisy activities.
What makes a good neighbor? What makes a bad neighbor? Are you a good or bad neighbor? Do you have a strong relationship with your neighbors? Do you prefer to keep to yourself at home? Have any neighbor horror stories? Let us know in the comments, and don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe!
I live in fairly large city, but it doesn’t feel like one sometimes. It’s been described as a big city, with a small-town vibe. I think this is because the people here are pretty friendly, and the community feels relatively safe. This allows you to get to know quite a lot of the locals. There’s still plenty of new people to meet every day, but some faces become familiar after a while. Below are few things I like about where I live.
22 things I like about where I live.
There are a lot of things to do within walking distance.
It feels relatively safe in the downtown area.
People who live here are usually very friendly.
My job is few minutes away and I can walk there if I want.
The neighborhood looks very clean and well kept.
There are a lot of luxury apartments in the area.
I can cheaply rideshare to any place in the city.
The downtown area has a thriving nightlife.
There are tons of restaurants, bars, and fast-food places.
I like my balcony view from the third floor, very peaceful.
There is a nice community room with a pool table.
The apartment residents are fairly quiet.
There is a nice workout center I hardly use.
There is a community pool that I never use.
My vehicle is always protected in the parking garage.
I can get just about anything delivered to me.
I don’t have to drive far for groceries.
There are shopping malls not too far away.
The city has a large zoo and botanical garden.
The city has a library and several art galleries.
There is a movie theater and two comedy clubs downtown.
There is a large symphony hall in walking distance.
What it looked like today from my balcony.
Balcony view from my apartment on the third floor.
Some photos I took of my neighborhood.
Please share your thoughts in the comments, and don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe!
When I was very young, I lived with my grandparents, and the neighborhood had quite a few people from their generation. One such couple lived right across the garden from the place where I lived.
I should explain that it was a small rural town that I lived in, and practically everyone had a garden. Most of the people in the community were retired farmers, so it made sense that they would continue their occupation on a smaller scale in their golden years. It kept them active, and also produced a lot of fresh vegetables every year.
This couple had a son who was killed in tragic accident, leaving several children behind, most of which were girls, but there was one boy, and all these children lived with their grandparents next door, right on the other side of the garden. Some of my earliest memories as a kid was with these girls. They came over often, and were among my first friends. I would definitely say those early interactions with them had a profound lifelong effect on how I see girls.
I thought she was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen in my life, and I just liked everything about her.
On one warm summer day, I remember being outside, when one, or maybe more than one, of these girls came over. They had another girl with them that I had never seen before. She was slightly younger than me and had light blonde hair. She sort of struck differently from other girls. I thought she was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen in my life, and I just liked everything about her.
They didn’t stay too long this time. I think they were mainly introducing her to us. You see, these girl’s deceased dad had a brother, and he was getting married to this girl’s mother, so she was becoming a new member of their family. She wouldn’t be living next door, but the idea that I might see more of her made me really happy.
She stormed out of the house and looked very upset about something. She then walked around the side of the house and just stood there. It looked like she was pouting about something.
When they left, I continued about my day, but I was still very curious about this new girl. I remember I kept looking over toward her grandmother’s house, hoping she would come outside, and then I saw something odd happen. She stormed out of the house and looked very upset about something. She then walked around the side of the house and just stood there. It looked like she was pouting about something. Maybe it was my imagination, but I sort of got the impression that she wanted to come back over to my house, but they told her no.
That’s about all I remember of that day, but when school started back up she was there. She wasn’t in my grade, but I saw her on the playground everyday. She had made friends with a girl and they would walk around the playground together. I don’t remember all the interactions that lead up to it, but I somehow ended up talking to them one day.
We just walked around the playground holding hands, but I remember on one occasion she kissed me on the cheek. I remember it made me feel really happy inside.
We were all quite young, but we seemed to know about boyfriend and girlfriend relationships. It seems odd that romantic feelings would exist even in grade school, but there they were. I think she asked me if I wanted to be her boyfriend, and I said yes of course. It was all very innocent. We just walked around the playground holding hands, but I remember on one occasion she kissed me on the cheek. I remember it made me feel really happy inside.
I never wanted it to end, but eventually it did, and then I had to watch her walk around the playground holding another guy’s hand. I was young though, so there weren’t really any bad feelings about it, but I honestly never stopped liking her.
I never found the courage to make that ride though. I left the letter stuffed inside the handlebars of my old bike, never to be read by anyone.
I remember one day I thought up this brilliant idea. I would write her a love letter to tell her all the things I wanted to say to her. I would then get on my bicycle and pedal all the way out to her house in the country and hand deliver it. I never found the courage to make that ride though. I left the letter stuffed inside the handlebars of my old bike, never to be read by anyone.
We went though many grades together, and I watched her grow up, still always beautiful, still always positive and funny. I remember we would occasionally interact, but as I grew older, I became increasingly shyer, and I was especially shy around her.
I remember one day I ended up sitting on the bus beside her by accident. I was so nervous that I couldn’t even say anything. She didn’t say anything to me either. I loved that she was sitting with me, but it was very awkward. I thought she probably saw me as weird just sitting there perfectly quiet. If only she knew how I really felt.
I was a little heartbroken, but how could a shy guy like me ever get up the nerve to ask her out?
She eventually moved off to another town, met some guy, and got married. I don’t think she was even out of high school yet. I was a little heartbroken, but how could a shy guy like me ever get up the nerve to ask her out? I also wasn’t exactly the coolest guy around back then (That came later, 😉 ). She could do way better than me.
I had finally gained my nerve, and so I told her all about my crush on her. Turns out, she had a crush on me too.
Marriage pretty much ended any hope I had of being with her, and we eventually lost track of each other, but eventually we found each other again through the magic of social media. At some point, I began to notice that she seemed to like practically everything I posted. Curious about that, I messaged her and started a conversation. I had finally gained my nerve, and so I told her all about my crush on her. Turns out, she had a crush on me too.
We are still friends to this day, and I believe she is actually the only friend I stayed in contact with from childhood. She just started a new relationship. I hope it works out. The other day I sent her a text about one of my writing prompts. I will share our responses.
Hottie from across the garden.
Did you ever find out later that someone you had a crush on also had one on you? Did you ever tell someone that you had a crush on them? What’s your story? Let me know in the comments, and don’t forget to subscribe!
The phrase having it all means something different to everyone. I think most people would think of it as being the state where you have achieved all your life goals. This might mean you have the dream career, earn the money needed to satisfy all your wants, have met and married your soulmate, live in the neighborhood and house where you want, and are surrounded by awesome friends and family who support and love you.
I have attained quite a few life goals already. Honest truth is they didn’t give me the kind of long term fulfillment that I assumed they would. I was always after the next thing. I accomplished them one by one and then just moved on to the next goal. The state of living really means that you keep moving. As they often say, life is not a destination, it’s a journey.
For the normal sort of life goals that a person may set, I’d say they are pretty attainable in our society. I was born to a poor family and lived in a small town in the middle of nowhere for half my life. There were no surrounding jobs that paid anything and the nearest college was many miles away. I’m honestly surprised they had running water. They did, but it tasted awful some days. I eventually managed to escape, get all the college I wanted, move to a thriving city, and make enough money to support a decent lifestyle. It can be done, but its a lot of hard work.
Unfortunately, there were some obstacles in life that I was not able to overcome because it would require supernatural powers. I lost some people that I desperately needed and didn’t want to lose. If I truly had it all, they would still be here to share it with me. In order to live the perfect life, I would need to become immortal and gain power over the fates, so those people could abide with me forever, and that is unattainable.
I’ve also heard other phrases that come close to this sentiment, like he’s living the dream, or she’s living her best life. Would you say you are living your best life now? What’s your plan on achieving your dream? Let me know in the comments, and don’t forget to like and subscribe.
Ken's Life 
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