YK’s 365 Release: Day 4

Okay, this one might be a little esoteric.

I was a tomboy growing up (surprise), and one of my best friends was a boy about my age. My mother did not really lavish my sisters and me with superfluous toys, but my friend had every toy ever made in the universe. So whenever I went to his house, we would get lost in imaginary land.

One such toy was from one of my favorite movies at the time, “Tron”. This was 1982. In the movie, there’s a vehicle called the “lightcycle” and back then, that movie changed computer animation forever. I’m aware they’re doing a new one. It can never be as awesome as the first one.

Here’s the toy. I managed, in 2002 to acquire a vintage lightcycle toy because there was a short resurgence in the popularity of the movie as it was celebrating its 20th year (whoa). That toy is now a collector’s item. It brings me feelings of wistful remembrance of playing in the basement, lost to the world of our parents. Conjuring up images and scenarios where somehow He-Man, Tron, and Luke Skywalker were all living in the same castle simultaneously.

I have very fond memories of my childhood. And whenever I see my mom, I tell her, “thank you for giving us a wonderful childhood.”Because I was a blithe and happy child. I was always laughing, always smiling, going on adventures, being supremely creative and eternally active. I had a beautiful childhood. In this, I know I am exceptionally lucky. I do believe the childhood my parents were able to provide me with has contributed to my happiness as an adult. I did get in trouble all the time because I was the troublemaker of the 3 daughters. I almost burned the house down a few times, would jump from the balcony, was breaking things every single day, taking appliances apart, causing major catastrophes. Even so, my parents always encouraged my spirit of individuality and innovation. I am still that wild child in many ways. My teen years were an entirely different decade and story, but I will share that another time.

So this toy signifies memories of bliss for me. I’m sure it’s worth something significant at this point. But I didn’t buy it to put it on my shelf, I actually bought it to play with it, just like I did when I was a kid. It has a zip cord that you can use to make it glide across the floor. Letting go of this one just requires me to remember how much joy it brought me.

So for day 4, I am giving this toy to another little girl, so that it may be used to continue building imagination and entire worlds of fantasy.