2006. I was a senior in high school, and had just signed up for this new thing called Facebook, back when it was literally just blue and white boxes and only college kids (and a few lucky high schoolers) could get on. I had a half-day school schedule, no job, and way too much damn time on my hands.

Chile… sometimes I’ll be sitting there minding my business and get flashbacks of the foolishness. Like, how was that my life? Thank God for always covering me!

I remember one time I met this guy down Union Station and it was an instant love connection LOL at least in my teenage head. We were talking, laughing, making out like we were auditioning for a damn music video in the back of the bus. I was smitten. Fast forward about a month later, I’m on the X2 bus, and there he is again… except this time, full-blown dirty and clearly homeless. My jaw dropped. Like sir… what happened in 30 days?! Just a month ago you were tonguing me down, now you’re asking for change. Life came at him fast I guess. I ignored him like I didn’t see him.

I was covered in my hood too. I had an army of men who didn’t, and still don’t, play about me. From big brothers to OGs, I was protected in ways I didn’t even understand back then. It gave me this unspoken confidence to explore the world, even when I had no business doing half the stuff I was doing. Minnesota Ave shenanigans had me in a chokehold. Making curfew…and breaking curfew.

Back then, fun was easy to find and nine times out of ten it didn’t cost me a dime. All it took was friends/family, free time, and a little curiosity. The lack of real guidance I had back then definitely made me more of an explorer… again, sometimes too much for my own good but it shaped me into the woman I am now.

I do wonder sometimes who I’d be if I had listened more to the wisdom that was being poured into me from a distance. But truth be told, my teenage years was still a great time to be alive. Simpler, messier, freer… and completely unforgettable.

Xoxo, Drea