Independence, Kansas / Population 8,505
I grab the neighbor girl and we decide to ride our bikes down the street to Mr. Bradley's house. He had the deepest ditch in his front yard and it's perfect for catching crawdads. We might even see a turtle!
Out in the barn is the Rec Room. Inside is a pool table, an old soda machine, and a used restaurant table and booth that my dad got from one of his customers. My brother beats me at pool every time so it's never any fun. It's not fair because he lives here and I only visit once every three weeks, so he gets to play all the time.
I'm spending a month here over the summer. Day one my dad excitedly takes me out to show me the new gun he just got and has me shoot it in the backyard. It's the smallest gun I've ever seen! Fits in the palm of my hand! I can hardly hold it and I'm afraid that when I pull the trigger my grip will be so poor that it flies right out of my hand.
It's Neewallah! (Halloween spelled backward) It's the best time of year to visit my dad because the whole downtown turns into a giant Halloween festival! On the last day, we always go to the biggest parade ever and then back to the house to eat cheesy potato soup! Best day of the whole year!
He has so many photos of our family down in Texas. People I've never met or even heard of before! But he knows who all of them are! He says it's my brother's responsibility to carry on the Selman name. I ask why I can't do that and he says it's because I will get married and change my name to something different so I won't be a Selman anymore. It makes me feel really icky that I can't stay a member of the family forever and that my future kids won't be a part of it either. Are only Selmans' allowed in the photo albums?
My mom said we aren't going to put up Christmas decorations this year because she doesn't have the money for presents and doesn't feel like celebrating. But when I visit my dad he has the whole house decked out in decorations. Stockings line the staircase in ascending order by age. I love spending Christmas here. It's such a special time full of togetherness. I wish my mom would have let us decorate this year. Christmas isn't about the presents and she knows that. She's just sad. I hope she isn't sad right now though.
My dad paid for us to have wristbands! That means we get unlimited rides for the night at the festival! I start feeling sick after the octopus ride though. I'm starting to feel guilty because if I don't ride enough rides then the money spent on the unlimited pass will not have been worth it!
My mom bought my brother a Play Station Two. It's his most prized possession! If I'm lucky when I visit he will sometimes let me play on it. I play the Tony Hawk game and skateboard all around a city. It'd be pretty cool to know how to skateboard in real life. I've always wanted to learn but it looks so hard!