So, I’ve been posting on my blog about some pretty serious things recently, so I thought today I might reflect on parts of my childhood that I really enjoyed and that make me happy to think about. This means my life as a Tewks-cap. There is a family that lives behind us with three kids. My brother and I and those three kids came together as the Tewks-caps (a merging of the last names). Granted, it was Tewks-cap-manns or Tewks-cap-sons or Tewks-cap-schiems at different points when other kids joined in for a bit, but it was always, at the very least, the Tewks-caps. There were five of us in the main group, with the oldest of us being five and half years older than the youngest (me), but no less friends for the age difference. The best part was, the Tewks-cap backyards (because we saw no difference in who technically owned which) are connected by a path in the back of each.
We engaged in some pretty crazy shenanigans for young kids. We blew up small firecrackers (donated by a neighbor because it was illegal to sell them at the annual block yard sale) in our backyard; we constructed huge K’nex structures for every reason we could think of; we shot b-b guns in the basement (don’t worry, those of us without glasses hid behind pillows); we built igloos big enough to stand on the inside (we were not as tall then) and sled on the outside; we used ripstiks, bikes, and scooters to videotape cool tricks on the concrete patio; we put many more things on the grill than should have been there; we made “skirons” out of skateboards and ironing boards, and much more. I looked up to the three older brothers so much because they directed every activity and always seemed to know what they were doing (however unsafe). Liz and I, being younger than the brothers and less than a year apart, stuck together and sometimes were assigned to photograph the quidditch games or refill the water guns for the older brothers, but we were always watching and learning from them, including how to construct the perfect paper airplane, down to the inches of scotch tape and size of paperclips necessary to weight the nose and tail. (I honestly don’t find it overly surprising that the three older brothers are currently in college or grad school studying railroad engineering, aviation, and mechanical engineering.)
As we have gotten older, we have gotten more busy and less able to spend hours on end together daily. With three of the Tewks-caps at three different colleges, reunions are few and far between. However, when we are together, some things will never change. When the Tewks-cap squad comes together, usually now the Tewks-cap-schiems, we have fun and act like siblings again. We always play ghosts in the graveyard, which is perfect in the conjoined backyards. We also play often Mario Kart Wii in the basement, using the “losers walk” method of rotating turns. The last time we were together, we even did stupid stuff with not enough safety precautions. We threw (and shot from water pistols) liquid nitro fuel onto an open fire in the backyard. We also doused bricks in it and lit them on fire on the grass. After going through several bottles of the fuel, we pulled out sleeping bags and fell asleep under the stars together. This is something that made me feel like we were kids again, doing stupid stuff for fun in our yard and knowing our parents didn’t care, as long as they knew where we were and we didn’t get hurt too badly.
Now that I have told you more than you needed to know about the Tewks-caps, you should also know that it has had a lasting impact on me. I am not nearly as adventurous, spontaneous, or reckless as I was then, but I can say that I would not be any of those things at all if it wasn’t for the Tewks-caps. We were crazy and not the least bit logical, but it has taught me a lot about what is really important to me in my life. I need to ignore the tedious and mindless work sometimes and just enjoy my life as a kid and as a human in this world. Also, through the Tewks-cap bond, I have had an amazing support system for my whole life. They have given me as much love and guidance as I have ever needed. It saddens me to think of leaving it behind next year, especially as my parents may move back to the West Coast a few years later, but my two families will always be there for me and I will always be a Tewks-cap. We still borrow recipe ingredients from each other often, we still get together for birthdays (who is still left in town, that is), I will always be able to call Liz up and talk to her for hours, and we will always be the Tewks-cap kids, no matter where else life takes us and how old we get.
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