Sydney Spence

A Simpler Time



Posted: Friday, March 05, 2010

by Sydney Spence

Remembering the days I would play outside past sunset, without a care in the world, fill my daydreams now. How ironic that being a grown up would fill my daydreams then, when I had no idea what adulthood meant. But there were things that made me appreciate the simple life I had. The pink and orange hues of the sunset would always mesmerize me after a long and fulfilling day of adventure outside, and hours seemed to last forever when my hands were elbow deep in dirt that I had dug up from the ground to make dirt castles. They weren't sand castles as I was nowhere near sand or ocean. That's a funny thought. I wouldn't touch sand until my 33 rd birthday, but that's another day I will reminisce on as I grow older.

I remember my entire neighborhood consisted of dusty roads surrounded by trees that hid our subdivision from the bustling highway leading into and out of town because it was just that small. Behind one of my friend's house were trails that led into the heart of the woods where we would build forts out of broken limbs and dead leaves that had fallen from the trees; more trees than my children have ever lived around being in the city. I sometimes have to laugh at myself because I so longed to get out of that small, destitute town the minute I was legal. But now I am grateful that my children have the opportunity to have at least a taste of the country life when they go to visit grandma. They are city kids who rarely see the street or even the sidewalks with their bikes. Lugging the bikes in and out of a second floor apartment is more difficult than one would think.

Back in the day I would have the freedom of riding almost anywhere I wanted. It was my first bike ever, purple and fast, and it rode me to many an adventure. Flying down the dusty dirt roads to get home in time for dinner was like flying in the wind to my child-like mind. Each evening I went home I knew I would just be itching to get back out the next day when I would again be able to use my imagination for another day of adventure. Those were the days when playing hide and seek with the neighborhood kids was more entertaining than sitting in front of the TV. Even now it would be more pleasurable than sitting in front of my computer all day. But, alas, technology has won the human fight for convenient lives.

Everyday I become more saddened at the thought that my children won't grow up in the same world I did. They won't have the same simple pleasures in life that even my generation was afforded. I'm sure my parents and even my grandparents felt the same way, but even early on in my life I had the beginnings of technology that evolved in such a way that no child dare try to avoid it these days. The true sadness of it all to me is that my children will not have the simple pleasure of enjoying a day free of phone calls, emails, or disturbing events of disaster boasted over the air waves or TV.

My mother would tell stories of hanging out on their wall at the Dairy Queen without worry of a gang fight starting up, just a night of hanging out with friends. My grandmother grew up in a time that you didn't have to lock your doors and neighbors looked out for each other. As we know today, none of those things are possible anymore.

I remember playing in the park at dusk without worrying that someone was going to snatch me up and take me away from everything I knew. We lived a little over a mile outside the city limits and every weekend I rode my bike into town, along the highway no less, just to get to that park and the thought of my children doing that now is depressing because I know they can't. Oh, to let kids be kids these days. I must sound like a grandmother at this point, I guess my mind often feels that way, but I'm only 35 and a mother of two.

My children are home before dark, they are only allowed to hang out with kids I've met, and there's no such thing as mama dropping them off at the mall to hang with friends. I cannot think of a time that I have ever allowed them to ride their bicycle down the street without me or even imagined letting them go into some wooded area to build a fort with no one but them.

Maybe the time they look back on will be just as my memories are to me. They will tell their children of their childhood and their grandchildren and so on. It makes me wonder just what exactly our world will be by then and what memories they will have to share. But for now, I have become my mother telling them the same stories I share now; memories of a simpler time.
Since a very young age, Sydney realized the importance of words, the joy of putting them together, and the enthusiasm in which creating something was like air to breathe. It all started with poetry, which she still writes and publishes to this day but it was always just a hobby to write anything other than that. But one day, words started spilling out on a daily basis and she was unable to put away the Word doc. That was a few years ago. Sydney came to realize that her passion for writing could be combined with the life experiences and she could finally have a career that she was passionate about. Just starting out is undoubtedly the hardest part, but you never know what you can do until you try ~ welcome to the words of Sydney Spence.
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Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)
» left by Richard Radtke
 2 years 11 days ago.
19 fans. Follow Richard Radtke on twitter!
Very nice article, I enjoyed it!
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