The Best is Yet to Come

I really remember my 10th birthday. I was turning “double digits,” having a “spend the night” party with friends, and my parents gifted me tickets to my first concert: Hootie and the Blowfish. The concert was actually on my real birthday, September 1, 1995, and it was at the old Oak Mountain Amphitheater. I remember being on the grassy hill and not getting to stay until the end because my mom could smell “spunky” smells. I was forced to hear the end of the concert from the parking lot, and that was good enough for me.

I vividly remember turning 16 and getting a black Volkswagen Bug. I had on a black studded tank top with an eagle on the front in that first driver’s license picture, and I will never forget the new car smell and how it felt to drive to the Benjamin Russell High School parking lot after I passed my test. It was freeing then, and I still feel free every time I drive.