Ahh, the 80's. MTV still showed music videos, gas was cheap, the video game industry was trying to recover from the video game crash of 1983, and horrible things like reality TV, Hollywood remaking/rebooting movies that didn't need to be remade/rebooted and political correctness hadn't ruined everything yet.
For me, 1988 is the year that will always stick out. Not only was that the year I turned 18, not only was that the year movies like Die Hard and Beetlejuice hit the screen, not only were the radio stations ruled by artists like U2, Michael Jackson and Guns N Roses, but it was also the most memorable summer of my life.
Every year, for as long as I can remember my mother and I would visit my grandparents down in Florida, mom would stay for a couple of weeks, go back home leaving me under the care of my grandparents, and come back to get me at the end of the summer before school started back up. Even after my grandfather died in a traffic accident when I was 10, my grandmother Rosie would still be willing to spend the summer with me. My father was out of the picture (according to my mother, they weren't married when I was conceived, and as soon as he found out she was pregnant, he disappeared), so it was just me and my mother. Despite her busy schedule as an ADA for a prominent law firm, she always made time for me, and part of that included the yearly summer trip to grandma Rosie's. However in 1988 that changed a bit. Mom was in the middle of a huge trial, and new evidence had come forward that complicated her case. Since this was also before the horrible events of 9/11, it was a lot easier for me to fly solo to see grandma since my mother couldn't make it. It took a bit of convincing though.
"I don't know about this, mom." My mother said to my grandmother, absentmindedly playing with the phone cord as she sat at the kitchen counter.
I rolled my eyes "Come on mom..."
She waved a hand at me, "Shh, Alex, I can't hear your grandmother. What mom? (pause) I know he can... but... I know you will... but..."
"Diana, if you say 'but' one more time I will reach through this phone and spank you like I did when you were a little girl!" I heard my grandmother say through the phone line. I had to laugh, my mother glared at me but said nothing. I couldn't hear what my grandmother said next, but my mother eventually sighed and said, "All right, mom, fine. I'll book his ticket for next week."
After hanging up my mother sighed and brushed her hair out of her face. "That woman..." she mumbled under her breath. "You mister, you're lucky I love you so much."
"Mom, I can handle it." I said, "I'm 18 years old, I just graduated high school, all my college prep is taken care of, plus almost all of my friends are either gone or are getting ready to go away. What am I going to do all summer? I like spending time with you, but this case is gonna keep you busy as hell, and I'm going to be bored as hell. Even Susan is gone."
Susan was my long time girlfriend, we weren't sure if our relationship would survive being a long-distance one, but we were willing to give it a try. Spoiler: it didn't.
"You sound just like your grandmother. She said almost the exact same thing word for word. You're both right, I'm just nervous is all, you're flying solo for the first time, and I guess it's just the mother in me worried about you. I told you before kid, get used to it, I'm always gonna be your mother and I'm always gonna be worried about you."
For the next week, my mother took any free time to drill into me over and over what I needed to do to make sure I got on the right plane, and triple checked what I packed for the trip. Finally the day arrived and my mother took the time to drive me to the airport, and (again since this was before 9/11) walked me to my gate and didn't leave the airport until I had boarded the plane. The flight was uneventful and my grandmother was at the airport to meet me, just like she always was when it was me and my mother.
"Alex!" she called out, waving. I hurried over and was nearly suffocated as she pulled me into a bear hug. For a woman in her mid 60's you wouldn't know it looking at her. She certainly didn't look like anyone's grandmother. At only 5' 6", grandma Rosie still had her naturally red hair, bright green eyes, a smile that could light up a room, very few wrinkles and the body of a woman at least 15 years younger. Grandma had always kept in great shape, and it ran in the family, as my mother didn't look like she had just turned 42. Yeah, both grandma and mom had gotten pregnant young, but they were too stubborn to let that stop them from raising good kids and keeping their families together and happy.
"I'm so happy to see you!"
"Grandma... I can't breathe..."
She laughed and let go of me, and held be back at arm's length. "Let me look at you! My how you've grown since I saw you last!"
"Grandma, you saw me just last year and I know mom sent you copies of my graduation pictures." I said as we headed to baggage claim. "You've seen me recently."
She hooked an arm inside mine as we walked, "Yes, but not in person. You're taller than when I last saw you, you had a growth spurt since last year."
Well, that was true. I had shot up three inches and was now just a hair over six feet tall. We grabbed my bags from baggage claim and headed to her house, grandma grilling me about my senior year in high school and my life in general as she drove, and telling me about all the fun we were going to have over the summer.
The first few days were pretty routine. Grandma drove me around town, showing me what had changed since last I visited, as well as telling me what else she had planned. Since this was before the internet, some of our plans changed on the fly.
