"Can it be that it was all so simple then? Or has time rewritten every line?"

The innocence of childhood is SO blissful. As an introverted kind of person, I'm often in my own little world it's easy for me to turn a blind eye to things I don't care to see, because I'm preoccupied with Planet MeandMine. Still, as a child, my view of the world around me was even more shiny, happy and fun. Even now as an adult, my good childhood memories heavily outweigh the bad ones. Perhaps this is why I'm just now seeing how some fools in my hometown are doing their damnedest to retain the bad reputation it garnered since
the '67 riots.

Sunday, I got a call from my friend Tracy. Tracy and I go waaaaaaaay back. Way back like Charleston Chews,Chick O Sticks, plastic bracelets and stopwatches for fashon's sake. She's about four years older than me, but I've known her since I was about 6. Our families lived near each other, so we actually grew up together very closely. Our line between friend and family is blurred like a mofo. I love her and her fam to death, even though some of us have taken drastically divergent paths. Well, now she's fed up with being complacent with her life in Newark and wants a change. She want's to make moves down South.

Tracy has 3 kids. Her son and my daughter are about the same age. The harrowing and impressionable pre-teens. The Bloods and Crips have finally caught on in North Jersey, doing dumb shit and wreaking havoc on a block near you. Of course, she doesn't want her kids around this bullshit, and especially not her son, since he's likely to get recruited into it. Hey, I'm with her all the way on that. What this basically boils down to is that she would like to stay with me until she can get her thing together down here. I feel obligated to let her do that, since she opened her home to me and my daughter when we needed it. Problem is, I don't wanna freakin' be here! I'm smack dab in the middle of trying to make my own moves. She actually wants to live in Atlanta, and so do I, which is good. However, I don't know how this is gonna work out. We clearly have more talking and planning to do on this issue.

It's so funny how when I think my life is confusing and complicated enough, I get hit with something else. Don't start hedging bets on the date of my nervous breakdown just yet, but DO stay tuned!