Of Swans, Ducklings, and Childhood

Growing up a military brat is an unusual experience…or used to be, during the Cold War. Back then, the U.S. armed forces didn’t station soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines in one place very long. In my family’s case, we never lived anywhere longer than about a year. Often, we stayed at a new duty station only long enough to unpack. Sometimes, we didn’t get that far.

I suppose such a temporary life seems like a hardship to some people, but when it’s the only life you know…it’s the only life you know. What seemed odd to my siblings and me was that everyone else didn’t move at the drop of a hat.

I learned a lot bouncing from one side of the country to the other and back again as a child. Even if I could, I wouldn’t change a thing.

Well, maybe I’d change one thing.

That one thing made an enormous impression on me. I can still see the details as clearly today as I did when I was twelve years old. A single moment frozen in time — the moment when I realized life can throw anyone a curve — is the subject of “As Lovely as They,” my contribution to Sundown Press’s new release, Memories from Maple Street, U.S.A.: Leaving Childhood Behind.

The title of the story is from Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Ugly Duckling”: Could he ever forget those beautiful, happy birds? …He was not envious of these beautiful creatures, but wished to be as lovely as they.

Leaving Childhood Behind is a wonderful book, and I don’t say that because it includes something I wrote. The seventeen authors who contributed to the volume all told brief, magical stories about a seminal moment woven into the fabric that makes them who they are. Some are poignant, some are inspirational, and some are laugh-out-loud funny. All are unforgettable. I hope you’ll give the book a try.

Memories from Maple Street, U.S.A.: Leaving Childhood Behind is the first in a series of books to be published by Sundown Press, an imprint of Prairie Rose Publications. The next is The Best Christmas Ever! Deadline for that one is November 1, with release in December.

Future volumes include Pawprints on My Heart, I Pledge Allegiance, and Trick or Treat! Information about submissions and release dates is available at PrairieRosePublications.com.

Was there a moment in your childhood when life tapped you on the shoulder and whispered “it’s time to grow up now”? Tell us about it in the comments. We’d love to hear your story.