- In grade 2 or 3, a bunch of us would get together at recess and share our snacks. One day I approached the group and was told they wouldn't share with me because I was a "white man".
- There was this small/scronny kid in highschool that everyone (including me) picked on because he was compulsive liar. One day a group of us were talking about him, and one of my friends shut all us up by remarking, "I bet he's never owned a new jacket in his life". I felt awful. That moment taught me to be less vile and look for the struggles people might be going through.
- Spent a summer with my brother and I crammed into a coat closet playing Tony Hawk on N64.
- Me, my brother and dad had a competition to get the best lap time on Deadly Fall on 1080 Snowboarding. One day we got home to discover that my Dad had set a wickedly fast time, and smugly told us that he'd order pizza if we could beat him. We tried in vain for hours, and he ordered it anyways.
- Driving around for forty minutes in the dark and rain, trying to find a the address for my next vacuum sales pitch. Once I arrived, a pleasant couple answered the door and told me that some jobs just aren't worth the trouble, and I should find something to do that was more rewarding.
- The first time I used a tablet for the computer. Up to that point I had exclusively been drawing with a mouse, and finally discovered what I was missing out on. Gotta use the right tool for the job.
- My brother moved out to my city for the summer, and we worked and hung out together. Felt pretty gutted when he left, and I realized how lonely I was.
- I packed up all of my (meager) belongings into a new Civic, and hauled it all over Rocky mountains to move back home. Made me feel all growed-up.
- At a couple of family reunions, my immediate family would gather around and belt out some tunes with basic ukulele accompaniment.
- A few from New York:
- While waiting for a train, a cute chick kept looking over at me. I looked down to hide my smile.
- Talking to my soon-to-be girlfriend, as she was sitting really close and laughing at all my garbage jokes. Made me realize, "Oh, so THIS is what it must be like to have a girl like you."
- I was taking the train into/out of Manhattan, and there was a woman looking out the window while silently dancing and lipsyncing to her music. I liked the beauty of doing what makes you happy, regardless of what others might think. Whenever I go to buy groceries now I do the same thing, and it makes me happy.
- Bought me and drove me a rickety ol' Porsche 944, and realized that bucket list items can actually be accomplished in one way or another.
- Some close friends of mine had their first kid, and I went to go see them after they got home from the hospital. They layed him in my arms and said, "Meet your Uncle Chris". Honourary Uncle Status is a pretty humbling thing.
Okay, maybe these aren't 'core memories' so much as 'significant memories that I felt like writing down'. I worry that if I don't capture them they'll blow away, one by one, like grains of sand. That's a scary thought.
-Cril
