Some of my favorite reels on Instagram are the POVs from different decades in the past. I get all warm and fuzzy looking back on the ’80s and ’90s and various aspects of my childhood. I’ve written about nostalgia before. I’m incredibly nostalgic. Smells, sights, tastes, and sounds transport me back with vivid memories that always amaze me as I often have trouble remembering what we had for dinner three nights ago. The mind is truly a mystery.
I spent an hour or so the other day looking for a specific childhood photo that I needed for another project and then found myself reminiscing, spiraling, and reminiscing again. If my husband heard “Babe, look at this” one more time he might have been done with me.
So, in honor of POV Reels that I love on Instagram, here’s mine!
POV: It’s 1985 and photobombs already exist.
You are looking adorbs in your dress for kindergarten graduation, and your idiot older brother photobombs you. The best part is you have no idea it happened until you go to develop the film at the store and realize that not only did he ruin the picture, but so did his underwear hanging on the laundry line in the back. Mom probably wished she could crop those undies out, but the only cropping back then was me with a pair of scissors crudely cutting mean girls out of photos.
POV: It’s 1990 and summer sleep-away camps are all the rage.
You spent months packing for a week away only to be greeted by the best week of your life. The mattresses that are two inches thick, the cabins that have no air conditioning for summer in the south, the random strangers sleeping six inches away from you, and a counselor who is maybe five years older than you but is responsible for your life for seven days. You throw all your wet and dirty clothes into a literal garbage bag that will surely all turn to mold by the time your mom takes it out of your suitcase and life just couldn’t be better. The only thing you really missed while away from home was a weekday television show or two, and maybe your mom’s mashed potatoes because no one made them as smooth as hers. What a time to be alive.
POV: It’s Christmas of 1992.
You are a preteen and your parents surprise you with the best gift of all. It’s a television that is so bulky your dad can barely hold it. You are even more excited because it has a VCR spot to pop in your favorite movies like The Cutting Edge and Aladdin. You look back at this photo and wonder if it’s normal that you are in your pajamas, your mom is in her robe, while your dad is fully dressed like it’s a workday. Your dad also seems to be checking out the gift for the first time. Did dads all the way back in 1992 not know what gifts their children were getting? Some things never change!
POV: It’s the summer of 1994.
You hold the best treasure of all in the form of a Season Pass to the local amusement park. Mine happened to be Carowinds. You get dropped off 15 minutes before it opens and picked back up at closing time. You spend all day there at 14-years-old with no parental supervision and it’s ok because 90% of the park is also unsupervised teens. You are given $15 for the day and that’s enough for a full lunch, refillable soda, full dinner, and arcade games. You ride all the rides, get a killer tan, and check out cute boys that walk by. You take photos in the photo booths, laugh until you cry, and have a sleepover with your best friend so you can do it all over again the next day. 1994 was my first taste of freedom and the smile on my face says it all!
POV: It’s 1998.
It’s High School Graduation year. Your mom won’t let you wax your eyebrows, so you grow your bangs out long enough to cover them. Layers aren’t really a thing yet, so your thick hair just sits in a thick bob. You don’t own a flatiron, so you spend 30 minutes with a hair dryer only for it to still be thick and frizzy. Your face hasn’t really grown into your teeth yet, so you don’t do a full smile, but you realize that actually made your teeth look bigger. Regardless, you are a Senior getting Senior Portraits and you are graduating, and you have big dreams and are living the best school year of your life hands down. You rule the school, get to have lunch off campus, and hang out with the best friends you’ll ever have at a school that will hold the most special memories forever. The ’90s are coming to a close soon, but you’ve enjoyed every single year of them so far.
POV: You are an adult now and find yourself longing for a simpler time.
Longing for the days of Kodak cameras, summer camps, non-smart TVs, the feeling of safety even when you were alone, and memories that live in your mind instead of on social media.
Amanda, I love your writing. ✍️ Keep that pen in hand. Love you, Aunt Nancy ♥️♥️♥️