I Remember

I remember digging a hole in the backyard to make an underground clubhouse.

I remember leaning out my bedroom window and tossing a ball to my little sister who was leaning out the bathroom window. My sister didn't catch well. The window broke.

I remember picking peaches off the trees in our backyard.

I remember when my friend let go of the string to my favorite kite.

I remember digging tunnels for my matchbox car city in the front of my house.

I remember falling asleep while I listened to Willie Nelson play on the jukebox my Dad had just bought.

I remember my Mom and me painting my bedroom ceiling black and the walls a deep blue.

I remember building a go cart out of an old lawn mower and a wooden crate.

I remember my mom teaching me how to cut up a whole chicken.

I remember my Dad lighting fireworks off in our backyard.

I remember spending Saturdays with my Dad and getting paid for it.

I remember listening to my sister talk to her friends on the wireless phone with my short wave radio.

I remember watching my new electric train set smoke its way through a figure 8 for hours on end.

I remember watching the pilot light in the hallway heater because there was a ghost in my room.

I remember watching a funnel cloud touch the ground in Utah, and my mother telling my Dad "get us outta here" which was met by a chuckle and a floored gas pedal and the roar of a V-8 in an LTD.

I remember buying a AMC Javelin for $50.00 and learning how to rebuild a carburetor.

I remember riding 30 minutes to a girls house just for the chance she may see me ride by.

I remember forgetting the way home on my first day of school.

I remember falling off the bench seat of my Dads truck and landing on a glass Pepsi bottle, slitting my wrist.

I remember playing football in the street and not caring if we fell down.

I remember cutting my head open running from a girl with a horse head on a broom handle.

I remember listening to puff the magic dragon, over and over on a plastic phonograph which only played 45's.

I remember accidentally hitting my girlfriend in the face with a pair of vice grips while she watched me fix the brakes on my car....Sorry Suzie.

I remember having the longest hair of any guy in school.

I remember my Dad allowing me to have a glass of wine from a bottle which was taller then me.

I remember how proud I was when my Dad put a sign on the side of his pickup the read "Dan Paden and Son Landscaping"

I remember falling off the swing set in the backyard, and breaking off my teeth.

I remember building a tree house and being to afraid to sit in it.

I remember my little sister digging her nails into my arms, whenever we fought.

I remember playing Black Sabbath so loud the neighbors came over to complain.

I remember the sheet my parents used to put up in the hallway so we couldn't see what Santa brought until they woke up.

I remember finding my cat dead on the side of the house.

I remember bowling my first 200 game.

I remember sitting in a old school bus getting drunk and watching my friend punch the windows out.

I remember watching people piss off the balcony of my 3rd floor apartment.

I remember running down the street with my little sister dragging a stolen Christmas tree.

I remember the doctor telling me my son was disabled and expecting me not to want to deal with it.

I remember going on field trips with my daughters classmates.

I remember doing drugs and thinking they hadn't changed who I was (I was wrong).

I remember going to a Iron Maiden concert instead of my girlfriends prom.

I remember lighting wooden park benches on fire and watching with my friends when the fire department came to put them out.

I remember waiting for a trucker to bring me some weed.

I remember paying a pinball game in a Santa Cruz arcade so long it drew a crowd.

I remember losing the tip of my finger to a bowling machine.

I remember when a fish jumped out of my 50 gallon tank and landed on my heated water bed, I really remember the smell.

I remember getting sick on root beer schnapps.

I remember my first kiss at the skating rink.

I remember the first time my Dad punched me (I deserved it).

I remember sneaking my girlfriend in my bedroom window.

I remember learning to ride a bike and splitting open the scar from my wrist injury (See above).

I remember going to buy a dozen donut holes at 2am.

I remember eating sunflower seeds, and reading books for hours on end.

I remember getting to the hospital after my Grandmother had already died.

I remember my Dad waking me up at 2am to talk to me about life.

I remember my Mom telling me I couldn't go outside without shoes, and me running away from home over it.

I remember the day Elvis Presley died.

I remember paying a guy 2 bucks at a Mettalica concert to drink all I wanted from the keg in his van.

I remember finding my sisters boyfriend boyfriend, and my girlfriend making out in her car.

I remember the night my dog Twister died and hearing my Dad cry for the first time over it.

I remember wearing my first Tuxedo for my sisters wedding.

I remember driving 140mph down the freeway racing with my best friend.

I remember being put in a program for gifted children, and wondering what was wrong with me.

I remember beating the shit out of a guy for making fun of my little sisters teeth.

I remember the Vice principal telling my Dad I was in need of mental help, and my Dad telling her to go to hell.

I remember soaking a tennis ball in gasoline, lighting it and kicking it up and down the street.

I remember training dogs and winning a first place trophy at the dog show.

I remember my sister firing me from my fast food job because I ditched my shift to go see AC/DC.

I remember coming home and finding my apartment empty, and my daughter gone.

I remember many things. They have made me who I am, and I cherish every memory.