Welcome!

Welcome to Yester-Year Retro Memories!  

I hope you join me on a road trip through memories of days gone by!  I started this blog not only to relive these memories but also to help myself and others remember great things from our past.

I've been a fan of all things retro from a very early age.  My Dad got me very interested in old TV shows when I was 5 or 6, and as a 12-year-old, I fell in love with the TV show The Wonder Years.  It had already finished its run when I turned 12, but Nick at Nite had started to play it, and I taped every episode on VHS (except that elusive Rolling Stones episode!)  My Uncle Bob and I found a complete list of every episode of the show, which during the early days of the internet was very hard to come by, and we checked off every episode as we watched.  The previously mentioned Rolling Stones episode took years to find... But I digress.

The nostalgia of that show hit me right in "the feels" even though I hadn't even lived through that time period.  The music, the clothes, the coming of age and struggles with girls and school... it had it all.  You know how everyone says "This is like that one Seinfeld episode?"  well, I had that experience just at the right time with The Wonder Years.  I'd come home from school and after an issue with a bully or a tough teacher, or a girl I liked but was always too shy to talk to... I'd always say, "This is just like that time, Kevin..." 

I had very few friends I hung out with outside of school hours growing up.  When I was home I was often left to my own devices and would daydream and wish I could go back in time to experience things I've missed or relive happy memories from my own past.  I've always been an old soul and felt that I was born about 20 years too late!  As a 90's kid (born in 84) I've got very fond memories of my child hood growing up in a pretty average middle class family in upstate New York.

Looking at "the kids today," I really feel sorry for them as I feel the social media and internet age just isn't as fun and carefree of a time to be a kid as when I was.  I could be wrong; I could just be an old fool, but that's how I feel!  These kids don't know what it's like to just go outside to play without a prearranged playdate made by Mom.  They don't know what it's like to get kicked off the internet because someone picked up the phone.  And they certainly don't know what it's like to use your imagination to entertain yourself rather than turn on an iPad and watch endless YouTube videos.

I've consumed many a retro article before and now it's my time to give back!  I recently entered an essay contest on another retro website, and I enjoyed it so much that it inspired me to create this little blog to write about fun things I remember (and may have forgotten!) from my time growing up.  

I hope you enjoy it!