Chloe...

misses the times when she would play outside all day with random kids she didn't know. When your best friend was someone you'd known for five minutes. When the best thing that happened was the ice cream truck drove by on a hot day and you had juuuust enough money to buy that one popsicle that looked like Donald Duck or Mickey Mouse. When things were simpler and more fun. When you didn't have to worry about death, destruction and the leaders of the free world. Sneaking into forbidden places and making a magical world out of random things.  Using anything and everything you found in a game. Spending hours upon hours exploring your street, backyard, house, etc. When it was hard to stay up until midnight on New Year's Eve. When Christmas morning was the one day of the year you could jump on your parents' bed to wake them up. When you would dress up on Halloween and actually go trick-or-treating, and when you sported a bag for candy and a collection box for Unicef. When there was recess and tiny milk cartons and art class was spent gluing macaroni on paper, and drawing complex pictures meant putting clothes on stick figures. When gold stars and scratch'n'sniff stickers were put on aced tests. When you got up on Saturday mornings just to watch cartoons and eat cereal in your pajamas.

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I miss the smell of the woods in my backyard and the sound of the brooke babbling into the Schuylkill. I miss the wind blowing the leaves across the black asphalt driveway as I head to the bus stop in November, I miss sliding down the icy sidewalk with my friends on the hill. I miss climbing on rocks and getting my pants and shoes covered in mud and exploring the woods around the apartment. I miss it all.

I miss sitting on the balcony, and feeling the hot sun on my skin. I miss going to my friends' houses and hanging out in their livingrooms and backyards. I miss dancing around to music and singing along. I miss talking on the phone with my best friend about absolutely nothing for hours on end. I miss going to the mall and goofing around in Spencer's. I miss going to the school dances on Friday nights and doing the electric slide.

I miss driving up to New York every other weekend to spend time with my family and celebrate a birthday or a holiday or just being a family. I miss going to the store and buying the 100 pack of popsicles and the mineral water with the strawberry flavor. I miss bringing those bottles into the top bunk and sticking them between the matress and the bedframe. I miss my half circle alarm clock.