I’m headed to Orlando, Florida later this week for a conference, and as I’m getting ready for this trip, a wave of memories about Florida keep running through my brain. I haven’t been to Florida since I was a kid, but as a child, I used to go at least once every winter to visit my grandparents who were snow birds from Akron, OH. Then, even when my grandmother died in 1980, my grandfather still headed there every year with his new wife. They were in Ft. Lauderdale, and I spent a lot of time there with them there.
There’ something that’s bugging me though. I know I spent a lot of time there, and I still can visualize the inside of their apartment even from the details of the orange juice machine they used to make fresh juice every morning, the sleeper sofa my brother and I used to crash on and the balcony. That’s it though. That’s where my memory ends. Nothing. Nada. Zip. There are basically no mental pictures coming into my head of all that wonderful time spent there. How could that possibly be?
If my family reads this and has pictures of Florida, please send them to me! Or, what was the name of their condo? I’m sure I could at least Google search that place and find pictures of it.
I’m really disturbed that Florida was such a meaningful place during my childhood, and I can’t remember anything. It’s a pretty yucky feeling!
My song of the day is the only one that comes to mind when I think of Florida. The Beach Boys and “Kokomo” came after my days in the Sunshine State, but I still love it nonetheless. So, enjoy the song and happy Florida wishes to me!
