Lightning Flash Writing

My kid is saving up for a Switch 2 and the pride he seems to feel, simply having that goal, reminded me of what I wanted most when I was slightly younger than he is now: a skateboard.

I saved up one hundred dollars and kept the money in a pink plastic wallet in my pocket, just in case I’d end up at a place where I could buy a skateboard, I suppose. I told my mom what I wanted, so she could take me to a place where one could buy a skateboard. However, the only place she took me to spend my allowance was Toys R Us, and they didn’t have what I wanted.

I pictured it black and sleek, more like a longboard, I know now. Friends down the street had a silly yellow banana skateboard—I did NOT want that. My skateboard would make me a badass, not that I used that word when I was nine.

I never got a skateboard. My mom didn’t think it was a good idea and honestly, she knew me, and she was a nurse, so at this point in my life, I respect her for standing her ground on that. But I can’t help wondering who I might have become if I had a skateboard. How tough I would be. What doors could have opened for me.

Or would I be just the same?

I always thought that going somewhere else would help me become who I was meant to be… whoever that was. I had dreams of my family moving to Florida (based on nothing more than a few years of summer vacations there), where I’d turn into a popular beach bum. I thought I’d become a more put-together woman once I stepped onto a college campus. Then I thought uprooting my entire life to try grad school in another place would bring about the change I was so desperately seeking. After that, I traveled for six months straight, living out of a backpack, trying to find the place that would allow me to be me.

But I’m back here, in my hometown, settled in a way I never expected myself to be. Homeowner and parent, even though I finally have a career that would allow me to live as a nomad, which I wanted so badly when I was seeking something different in my twenties.

I think I’ve been in my middle school mind recently, thanks to my kid starting middle school and me trying to harness those feelings for my March Xness essay. So it’s not surprising that I’ve been re-reading some of my childhood and middle-grade favorites, especially Judy Blume. I feel like she captures the emotions, imagination, and curiosity of that age range so well.

Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself has always been one of my favorites, along with Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. I re-read it last month after watching the movie, and was impressed with how closely it aligned with the book! (Forever is more YA, but it’s still a great opportunity to compare a book to its screen counterpart.)

Judy Blume is also one of the most frequently banned authors, and since last week was Banned Books Week, I wanted to share a collection she edited: Places I Never Meant to Be: Original Stories by Censored Writers

Write about an object you desperately wanted as a kid but never received. Don’t just describe the thing—explore the person you thought you’d become if you had it. What version of yourself did that object represent?