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Utopian Turtletop. Monsieur Croche's Bête Noire. Contact: turtletop [at] hotmail [dot] com

Wednesday, December 05, 2007


The kid wanted to hear a story of my childhood. I told him about living at Great Lakes Naval Base north of Chicago when I was three. It was the last year of my dad's tour of duty. We lived in half of a duplex, I think. The backyards had no fences, so the whole block had a common backyard. I remember playing back there with other kids. I remember hitting golf balls back there with our next-door-neighbor -- Mr. Dreisinger? Mr. Leisingring? -- I don’t remember the name. My mom might remember.

I was younger than the kid is now, with only the vaguest memories. Children growing up shed identities. For a moment, remembering the person my son was as a 2-year-old seemed as distant as remembering myself as a 3-year-old.

When adults shed identities and adopt new ones, it can be shocking. We expect something resembling stability from our peers. We don’t always get it.


-- photo of Great Lakes Naval Base housing by Dennis D Pearson.







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