Imagine That!
So apparently the experts are now saying imaginary friends are a good thing, but it wasn't always that way back in the day. Thank goodness my parents weren't up on current psychology in my youth!
I didn't have an imaginary friend in my youth, I had imaginary FRIENDS. They were known as The Invisible People*. From the age of 1 or 2 until the age of 4 my family lived on a 1-2 acre parcel of land that was shared with my grandparents and my great aunt. The Invisible People lived at the back of the property, and I would frequently play with them. It may have done something with the fact that I don't recall any kids of my own age around to play with at the time. I had my brother, and he had a neighbor named Lenny (who had an infant brother at the time). There was a girl, maybe her name was Kristy, who lived nearby but was older - I inherited her Barbie doll collection at one point. So I think they were my best option when not willing or able to play with the big brother.
When I was four we moved from St. Louis to California. I remember sitting in the car looking up at the hills, it must have been in Arizona or New Mexico. The Invisible People were moving with us but there OBVIOUSLY wasn't room in the car for them, so they followed alongside the car on horseback. Once we arrived in California the Invisible People fell out of favor - probably had something to do with the fact that there were several playmates of my age living on the same block so I had no need for them anymore.
We moved to Oregon immediately before my seventh birthday, but the Invisible People remained in California. They did come to visit once. I believe it was our first Christmas in Oregon. The grandmother I didn't really know that well had sent my brother and I Christmas gifts, which was out of character for her, except mine was a kissing Barbie (I'd already had one for quite some time) and I think my brothers gift was something equally just not right for him, and I started to realize how cheated I was on the grandparent front in this thing called life.
I wonder whatever happened to The Invisible People. I hope they're doing well and have had successful invisible lives.
* Yeah, I know what a horribly unimaginative name that is. Scary thing is, it gets worse. The stuffed animals that were important to me in my youth were named: Brown Bear, Red Bear, Big Bear and Little Red Bear. Just not good on the name front. If not for the fact that there are a couple of family names we'd like to see carried on Sweetie and my's future children might end up being named Boy and Girl. Or worse, Boy and Little Boy.
I didn't have an imaginary friend in my youth, I had imaginary FRIENDS. They were known as The Invisible People*. From the age of 1 or 2 until the age of 4 my family lived on a 1-2 acre parcel of land that was shared with my grandparents and my great aunt. The Invisible People lived at the back of the property, and I would frequently play with them. It may have done something with the fact that I don't recall any kids of my own age around to play with at the time. I had my brother, and he had a neighbor named Lenny (who had an infant brother at the time). There was a girl, maybe her name was Kristy, who lived nearby but was older - I inherited her Barbie doll collection at one point. So I think they were my best option when not willing or able to play with the big brother.
When I was four we moved from St. Louis to California. I remember sitting in the car looking up at the hills, it must have been in Arizona or New Mexico. The Invisible People were moving with us but there OBVIOUSLY wasn't room in the car for them, so they followed alongside the car on horseback. Once we arrived in California the Invisible People fell out of favor - probably had something to do with the fact that there were several playmates of my age living on the same block so I had no need for them anymore.
We moved to Oregon immediately before my seventh birthday, but the Invisible People remained in California. They did come to visit once. I believe it was our first Christmas in Oregon. The grandmother I didn't really know that well had sent my brother and I Christmas gifts, which was out of character for her, except mine was a kissing Barbie (I'd already had one for quite some time) and I think my brothers gift was something equally just not right for him, and I started to realize how cheated I was on the grandparent front in this thing called life.
I wonder whatever happened to The Invisible People. I hope they're doing well and have had successful invisible lives.
* Yeah, I know what a horribly unimaginative name that is. Scary thing is, it gets worse. The stuffed animals that were important to me in my youth were named: Brown Bear, Red Bear, Big Bear and Little Red Bear. Just not good on the name front. If not for the fact that there are a couple of family names we'd like to see carried on Sweetie and my's future children might end up being named Boy and Girl. Or worse, Boy and Little Boy.
posted by Swankette at 11:33 PM
2 Comments:
OK, I'm weirder than that. My imaginary friends weren't invisible. They were the blobs of color you can see after rubbing your eyes too hard or staring at the sun. They were kinda like guardian spirits. And in elementary school, I'd imagine the cloud people who would give me rides home from school on clouds.
I totally had imaginary friends, and I talked to my stuffed animals. I think that an active fantasy life is a sign of creativity, although I'm sure there are pop psychologists who would say differently.
Post a Comment
<< Home