Grateful Dad #19.24: Last Playtime / Lost Playtime
In this article, I delve into my memory lane and remember some turning points in my life throughout the years.
Over the last few days, I’ve been introspecting, prompted by a post that caught my attention on Facebook. It featured a photo of a scene from the hit movie “Stand by Me” with the words “At some point in your childhood, you and your friends went outside to play together for the last time, and nobody knew it” prominently superimposed on it.
First off, let me say that Stand by Me has made quite an impact on me. When I saw it for the first time, it took me back to my childhood days in the province. I grew up in the 90s and we didn’t have any gadgets during that time. The internet was still exclusive to big businesses at that time, and smartphones were unheard of in my part of the world.
We had TV and radio, but that was just it. With that, my friends and I loved to spend time outside on Saturday afternoons. We would bike around our little town and visit little corners of our hometown that we seldom saw; the river, places that are far away from the main road, the rice fields, and so on. We grew up having weekly adventures, much like the little escapades of the boys in Stand by Me. What made the movie much more memorable is the ending, in which the boys went their separate ways after their little weekend pursuit, only for their circle to break up soon thereafter, and go with different groups of friends.
In a sense, their weekend together was their last playtime. I’d like to go further and even say that it was already the group’s lost playtime because they have already matured and went on to pursue things that were probably more appropriate for their age.
Turning points
On a personal note, one’s last playtime or lost playtime can metaphorically be considered a turning point in their life. I can think of several instances that I can consider as a turning point in my life:
Parting ways with a childhood friend
The last time I spent with a childhood best friend was during my elementary days. It was just funny because when we saw each other again during high school, we never acknowledged each other’s existence again. We never even smiled at each other. It was as if we never knew each other at all. It felt a bit sad at first and I don’t recall exactly what prompted our rift, but I eventually realized that it was an essential progression as we grew up.
High school graduation
It felt different to be considered a young adult. I left our house in my hometown and lived a semi-independent life throughout college. Suddenly, I had other priorities other than the petty problems of being a young teenager. I focused on my college studies, and there were times when I felt that I was forgetting my high school friends because I met a new set of friends. It was good though that I was able to reconnect with my high school friends at some point during college and right after graduation.
Starting a new job
Right after college graduation, I spent a few months in my hometown where I had a deeper connection with my childhood friends. We were already adults, and our priorities were now focused on making a living and being fully independent.
Just the same, we never forgot our high school passion – biking and exploring our hometown. Those were the best months and weeks after college. However, I soon got a call for a job interview and eventually got the job. I was to part soon with my high school friends and as a sendoff, we went on a grand biking spree from my hometown to Cabanatuan City and back. We covered a distance of more than 200km.
As for my college friends, we met over coffee during my first week of starting work. After that, only a few of us would see each other regularly until we eventually led different lives in different parts of the world (some have migrated abroad).
Getting married
I think marriage doesn’t need much explanation, but again, it entails a total overhaul of your priorities and perspectives, especially when you finally have kids. That gives playtime a whole new meaning.
Epilogue
Sometimes, when I look back, I can’t help but feel nostalgic for the days that have gone by. It’s hard not to yearn for the simplicity of youth, when weekends mean playing outside, going on childhood adventures, and laughing at trivial things with your friends.
On the other hand, it also makes me feel happy and grateful to have experienced the happiness of being young and carefree and to be given the opportunity to move forward with my life.
More Grateful Dad:
Super duper relate po nung panahon kasi kahit nga kuryente wala pa kami pero still ang sarap pa din balikan ng memories kasi kahit sobrang hirap noon enjoy pa din.
Sarap balikan ang nakaraan Daddy Iv pero Hindi na pwede ,ang tanging naiwan ay yung mga memories during the childhood days ❤️
Yung dati wala pang gadgets at tanging paraan para mag enjoy tayo ay maglaro sa labas kasama ang mga kaibigan at habang tayo lumalaki itong mga memories ay nakakatatak na sa ating puso't isipan
,yung mga kaibigan natin dati ay busy na din ngayon sa kanilang buhay para maabot din ang kanilang mga pangarap