Beautiful youth

Thank you everyone for another wonderful collection of writings! I admit part of the reason for this topic was curiosity to read about the childhoods of all these amazing folks I've been meeting through blogs, to get a glimpse into your lives, what first put you on the path to being you. Also, to see what was common to us all in our different states and countries, and what might be very different. As with the previous prompts, the variety was tremendous and exciting. There were long summer nights, games after dark, and rowdy siblings, but there was also loneliness and fear, abandonment and illness and tragedy.There was apartment life, and there were big houses on school campuses, or houses without plumbing, or even growing up at a summer camp! There were wonderful grandparents, adventures, boredom, and even one wartime childhood. A few writers imagined how their own children will one day describe their childhoods, which seems to me a beautiful exercise! So again, thank you all, and please, keep submitting throughout the week. The new prompt will go up on friday. (also, if you don't mind, do your best to return the word "wee" to common usage. It's so fun to say.)