Pure Nostalgia

When I first sat down to plan today’s Throwback Thursday post, I did what most of us do: I went digging through old photo albums for childhood birthday party snapshots. Images of blowing out candles and tearing into wrapped gifts with total excitement. But as I flipped through those physical memories, I realized they only captured a tiny sliver of who I actually was.

My childhood wasn't defined by gifts or milestone celebrations. It was built on the quiet inner worlds I created for myself, gel pen confessions tucked into journal pages, running wild outdoors until the sun went down, and stubbornly believing I was Dorothy Gale. So today, instead of a standard photo dump, I’m sharing a piece of my heart. A lyrical look at the shy, imaginative kid I was then, and in many ways, still am now.

I was the second-born daughter.

I was unfiltered energy and unbridled imagination.

I was the purple/blue sister.

I was the shy, awkward child.

I loved living in my daydreams.

I had a hard time sitting still growing up.

I loved to run wild outside, dig in the dirt,

and soak up every ray of sunshine until it finally set at night.

I was scolded by my father for believing I was Dorothy Gale and not Kendra Land.

I longed to go over the rainbow (and still do).

I wrote stories and songs.

I looked up to my older sister,

and wanted to be a role model to my younger brother.

I had my favorite fixations:

The Wizard of Oz & Ruby slippers

The Little Mermaid & skeleton keys

Star Castles

A Cabbage Patch doll named Bella (before the name was popular)

My notebooks and journals with a multitude of gel pens

I was neither “cool” nor popular.

Extremely introverted, painfully quiet around others,

but lucky enough to find a choice few whom I could open up to

and be unapologetically myself without fear of judgment or exile.

I loved with my whole being.

I trusted without doubt or fear of being hurt.

And, oh, how I could dream!

What was the fictional world you tried to escape into as a kid? Drop your favorite nostalgia fixations in the comments below!