In youth we learn, in age we understand

My senior year of high school, my parents moved the family from Yakima, WA, to Vancouver, WA, which is right across the Columbia River from Portland.

Vancouver is a nice town (or was, I guess, I don't live there any more), and towards the end of the school year I got my very first job at Taco Bell.

I'd never worked before, as a jock my school year was pretty much sports from August to May or June, and summers were busy. So while it will make you laugh, I actually was pretty psyched to get the call from Taco Bell. As fate would have it, the road that call took me down is one that I look back on fondly, at least a small part of it.

After a few weeks at work, I was just one of the peeps. Fridays and Saturday nights I would work to close. We'd be there until well after midnight, which is now not so unusual with everybody open late, but back then it was pretty late. Once the store was cleaned and everything was put away, we'd all head down to Sheri's Restaurant, which is a chain restaurant in the Pacific Northwest. Think Denny's but not so sterile.

The normal group was Eric (I think he was gay, or in denial about being gay), Teresa (totally mod chick who was into A-ha type bands), Joanne (Mexican girl who had big eyes but was cool), Gary (assistant manager) and Suzanne (a little chunky, but she had big tata's). We'd sit at Sheri's, taking up space, drinking coffee and talking about nothing in particular. We were totally oblivious to the fact that we smelled like refried beans, or that the waitress hatd that we only ordered coffee. After a year, they eventually changed the rules to have a minimum order to stay there. Talk about having an influence.

Anyway, the school year ended, and summer in southern Washington is pretty nice. Sunny days, warm nights, and plenty of things to do. On the last day of school I went out with a girl and afterwards went to TB to see what everybody was up to, and I wound up hooking up with Suzanne.

Suzanne was 21 (I was 18), and I pretty much spent that entire summer with a really good buzz. Suzanne and I got physical, of course, it WAS the 80's, and we were together during all of our free time. We hung with the crew at the lake, went to movies, partied at whichever house was parent free. It was the sort of time that somebody makes a movie out of, you know? I was 18, in great shape, had a girlfriend who could buy me alcohol AND gave me some loving, and I had no bills or worries...life was good.

Life changes though. That September Suzanne told me she was pregnant while we were out to dinner on my birthday (actually, I guessed). A few weeks later she'd tell me that she had taken care of it. I had to go back to high school for a year because I transferred from a Catholic school to public school and lost credits, so to get my diploma I needed one more semester (I'm proud to say that I was the first of the grandkids on my dad's side to graduate from high school).

In February of the next year, Suzanne broke it off, I handled it well by going out with a girl I worked with, and stayed with her for a year. In March I went to Air Force boot camp, and then to schools in Texas and Oklahoma. My Air Force career took me around the world, life moved on, and new chapters were written in the book that is my life.

I don't think about that time in my life very much, maybe because I am so content with my life in the present. My wife and I are madly in love after 20+ years together, my kids are healthy, and I think I'm in decent shape for a middle aged guy.

But when I do think about that time, it's with a certain fondness. Life was carefree. My paychecks paid for all the fun stuff I did, and the fact that I had a girlfriend to roll around with all summer made it that much better. I drove too fast, played my rock-n-roll too loud, wore my hair long, and slept too late. I lived on Taco Bell food, and my body didn't rebel like it would now, and a full course meal meant two Burrito Supremes and some nachos. California Coolers could get you drunk without the nasty taste that you get from warm beer, and you could fit as many people as you wanted in a car and get into the drive-in movie for $5.

Guns N' Roses sings a song that contains the lyrics, "Yesterday there were so many things/I was never told/Now that I'm startin' to learn/I feel I'm growin' old."

I wouldn't change how my life has turned out. To be honest, I don't know that a man can be any happier with life. But if I could, I'd go back to that time in life, if only to have another shot at the joy that comes with being unburdened by life. No car payment, no house payment, no bitchy coworkers...just a good buzz, some sunny days, and girl to keep me company.

Sweet.