My Retirement Lifestyle

Do you ever think back to your childhood, remembering those carefree summer days?

Perhaps every generation thinks this, but as I reflect back on my own childhood, that of my children’s and now my grandchildren’s, I really do think that in many ways, my childhood was idyllic.

While I was born in the 1960s, I consider myself a child of the ’70s, as they were where I spent most of my childhood.

On most summer days, my friends, cousins and I rode our bikes to the community pool, where we would spend the entire day swimming, playing and soaking up the sun. If we had money, we would buy a snack at the concession stand; otherwise, we would snack on whatever we brought from home. When we didn’t go to the pool, we would pack a lunch, and ride our bikes to the state park nearby, or take a long walk down an abandoned railroad track. We would get the neighborhood kids together for a game of softball at the park or kick the can in our back yards. The world around us was our playground.

Those were glorious, summer days. We would be gone all day only to return home at dinnertime. They were days of childhood joy and wonder, and the freedom to run free and explore the world around us. They were much simpler times; days where we would entertain ourselves for hours, without television, cellphones, and the myriad of other electronic devices kids today can’t seem to live without today.

They truly were simpler times; days of an idyllic childhood.

Summer days of my childhood.