today, 20 years ago, i attended orientation at auburndale high school. it was a week before starting 10th grade, and i had lived in auburndale for about 8 days. at orientation i met several guys who would become good friends through high school, and my future girlfriend for the next 11+ years (depending on who's counting).
i had moved from davenport, where i had lived from august '82 until the spring of '89. '89 was a pivotal year to say the least, and when i'm honest with myself, it was probably the most important, fortunate year of my life, even though i almost got shot two different times.
at the beginning of '89, i was starting my 2nd semester in high school at haines city (the city where i was born). i was struggling socially and acedemically. i had fallen in with a group of goth/progressive/punk/metalheads who were all quite unique and influential.
by the end of spring, we had sold our house and moved in with my mom's long term boyfriend, in some attempt to reconcile their on again, off again relationship, that stretched back to '81. our time there, and their relationship. all ended in a flash of craziness, that resulted in us driving around the neighboring cities looking for a house to by that was far away from the bad influences around in haines city. this was probably july '89...
when my first year of high school ended in june '89, i was smoking weed, failing english, and in need of a new direction. we rented a house for a month while my mom and searched for the perfect house, which we ended up finding in early august '89, in auburndale, florida.
alison and i are going back to visit the four connecting towns of my youth - haines city, davenport, auburbdale, winter haven - over this coming labor day weekend. my ex-girlfriend texted me today, reminding me where we met at the orientation, and i replied: time is a blazing bullet. i'll be 55 in no time.
i had moved from davenport, where i had lived from august '82 until the spring of '89. '89 was a pivotal year to say the least, and when i'm honest with myself, it was probably the most important, fortunate year of my life, even though i almost got shot two different times.
at the beginning of '89, i was starting my 2nd semester in high school at haines city (the city where i was born). i was struggling socially and acedemically. i had fallen in with a group of goth/progressive/punk/metalheads who were all quite unique and influential.
by the end of spring, we had sold our house and moved in with my mom's long term boyfriend, in some attempt to reconcile their on again, off again relationship, that stretched back to '81. our time there, and their relationship. all ended in a flash of craziness, that resulted in us driving around the neighboring cities looking for a house to by that was far away from the bad influences around in haines city. this was probably july '89...
when my first year of high school ended in june '89, i was smoking weed, failing english, and in need of a new direction. we rented a house for a month while my mom and searched for the perfect house, which we ended up finding in early august '89, in auburndale, florida.
over night, i came from being in a perilous situation, to being a very happy, popular kid. the day that all changed, was august 17th, 1989. i retained a few good friends from davenport, mainly russell finchum & todd roberts, who'm i lost contact with by the late 90's. i live in auburndale until i moved away briefly for 6 months, in the summer of '94, when i lived in st. augustine. i moved away again in august '95, to attend UNF in jacksonville. the last time i visited central florida was july 4th weekend, 2003.
alison and i are going back to visit the four connecting towns of my youth - haines city, davenport, auburbdale, winter haven - over this coming labor day weekend. my ex-girlfriend texted me today, reminding me where we met at the orientation, and i replied: time is a blazing bullet. i'll be 55 in no time.