Does anyone remember a time way back Before Sidekicks & iPods, Before Mike Jones, Before PS3 or Xbox 360, Before the 5 hours (5min) of homework you put off every night.

Back when light up sneakers were cool, When you rented VHS tapes, not DVDs, When gas was $0.95 a gallon & Caller ID was a new thing, When we recorded stuff on VCRs & paid $3.50 for a movie, When we called the radio station to request songs to hear off our walkmans, When 2Pac and Biggie where alive, When the Chicago Bulls were the best team ever.

Think Way back to days of Tag, Hide-n-Go seek starting at dusk, Red Light, Green Light, Heads Up 7 Up, Playing kickball & dodgeball until your porch light came on, Hopscotch, Slip-N-Slides, Tree Houses, Hula Hoops, Skip-its, Reading R.L. Stine's: Goose Bumps and actually being scared, Those annoying Tamagotchi Pets & Furbies, Running barefoot through the sprinklers, Crying when Mufasa died in the Lion King, Happy Meals where you chose between a Barbie or a Hot Wheels car, Getting that privelage to sit in the front seat of the car, Drinking Sqeeze It "Squeeze The Fun Out Of It."

But wait....there is more Watching Saturday Morning Cartoons in your PJ's still wrapped up in your Garfield comforter, Hey Arnold, Doug, Rugrats, The original Power Rangers, The Secret Life of Alex Mac, Ren & Stimpy, Double Dare, Rocko's Modern Life, AAAHH!! REAL MONSTERS, Wild & Crazy Kids, Clarissa Explains it All, Salute Your Shorts, Are You Afraid of the Dark?, The original cast members of All That, Kenan & Kel, The Magic School Bus, Flash Forward, Pete and Pete, Legends of the Hidden Temple, Hey Dude, Dinosaurs, Pinky and the Brain, Blossom, Hangin' With Mr. Cooper, Wishbone, Bill-Nye the Science Guy, and Kablamm.

Who could forget Snick? & Nick @ Nite with Bewitched, I Dream of Jeanie, The Facts of Life, & I Love Lucy. Where everyone wanted to be in love after watching The Wonder Years. Or Nick Jr. with Face. Gulah-Gulah Island, Little Bear, Under the Umbrella Tree, The Busy World of Richard Scary, The Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, and Cartoon Network cartoons.

The days when Kool-Aid was the drink of choice, Wearing your new shoes on the first day of school was the biggest event, Class field trips, When Christmas was the most exciting time of year, When $5 seemed like a million, & another dollar a miracle, When you begged to go to McDonalds for dinner everyday, When Toys 'R' Us overuled the mall.

Go back to the time when Argument's were only started when it came to who was gonna be the redranger, Decisions were made by going 'eeny-meeny-miney-moe', Mistakes were corrected by simply exclaiming 'do over!', 'Race issue' ment arguing about who ran the fastest, Money issues were handled by whoever was banker in 'Monopoly', It wasn't odd to have two or three 'best' friends, Being old referred to anyone over 20, A chance to skate as a couple at the local roller rink was like winning the lottery, Scrapes & bruises were kissed & made better, It was a big deal to finally be tall enough to ride the 'big people' rides at the fair, When playing Nintendo was the hardest thing ever, When Ninja Turtles ruled the world, When Lisa Frank was the raddest thing you've ever seen, When a candy bar at the grocery store was the highlight of your day, When coupons collected all year could get you a prize in your class auction, When the only thing you cried over was your mom being late to pick you up, When stress was just addition and subtraction, When friendships were as complicated as who's house to sleep over, When shaving cream was just meant for play, When a first kiss only lead to cooties, When Valentines Day meant cards for all, When birthdays were a class event, When a friend moving away was the saddest day of your life, When the summer lasted forever, When time didn't matter.

These were the days we hadn't realized escaped us until it's all brought back. Our past is not something we should mourn over, not something we should be sad we lost. It was cause of our past that brought us here today. Each thing we did in our past was just a memory bulding block for who we are. I don't know about you, but after hearing all of those things I'm tempted to get down and go do a Slip-N-Slide outside. It's because of this day we can look back on all the things we did as a kid and then look foreward to all of the things we'll do in the future. Life is a giant book that starts when you're born and ends when you die, it's easy to go back and read the last chapters, what's difficult is going out and writing the new ones.