The Wonder Years

Today, I was reminded of a website my good friend Jared Korstanje made a few years ago (his technical prowess is... astounding). If you look closely, you'll find some rather embarrassing pictures of me experimenting with facial hair back when it first started growing, and trying to pretend I was a part of Team Zissou.

Why is the website dedicated to Winnie Cooper and The Wonder Years, you might ask?
Because my first girlfriend in high school looked like Winnie Cooper. She never really saw it that way (in fact, the mere insinuation of a likeness brought forth a blinding rage which was hard to subside), but it was true. I thought/still think it was a compliment. For years it was a running/inside joke amongst friends, but I had forgotten all about it until today. There's nothing like a good, hearty laugh to make your day, and I had a big one.

It is with thoughts of high school memories that I end this post with quite possibly the greatest closing lines to a TV show - and a line which pretty much sums up my view of the past:

Things never turn out exactly the way you planned. I know they didn't with me. Still, like my father used to say, 'Traffic's traffic, you go where life takes you, and growing up happens in a heartbeat. One day you're in diapers, the next you're gone, but the memories of childhood stay with you for the long haul. I remember a time a place, a particular fourth of July, the things that happened in that decade of war and change. I remember a house like a lot of houses, a yard like a lot of yards, on a street like a lot of other streets. I remember how hard it was growing up among people and places I loved. Most of all, I remember how hard it was to leave. And the thing is, after all these years I still look back in wonder. -Kevin Arnold