Childhood Experience

A Childhood Experience Every individual has their own set of experiences in life. Some may try to convince themselves that they don 't have a past for reasons that their history is concerned. However, there are also those who love to relive moments in their life where they felt complete. As for my case, I believe that the memories I have during my childhood were the most challenging and exciting events of my life. Growing up as a kid in Bellewood, Kentucky, there wasn't much going on. I went to a small school and lived in a small house with a rather big family. There wasn't much to do in that pocket-sized town. I had a few friends but they were quite boring, always going outside to throw the ball around or sit by the fire. I was missing out on the big things in life, I thought. I wanted to live large, but I was stuck. When I was twelve years old, my father told me that we were going to see my uncle Leeroy down in Las Vegas. I had never met him before and heard quite impressive stuff about that city. Catching a look at my uncle Leeroy for the first time struck me as something out of the ordinary. His hair was gelled back and he was wearing huge sunglasses. He had a sparkling diamond necklace around his neck and was holding a cigarette. I shouted, "Hi, Leeroy!". "Call me Jenkins", he replied with quite the raspy voice. We were staying at his house for the week. I told him I wanted to see the casinos around here. He actually snuck me in to one somehow, I guess he knew the people or something. The lights, the people, the money, it was all amazing to me. We went to the amusement park, played tennis and golf; he even snuck me into a bar, too. This was exactly the spark I was looking for in life. I wished that someday I could be exactly like my uncle Jenkins. The only thing I wished he didn't do was smoke. Almost every time I saw him he was holding a cigarette. I wondered if that's what made him so cool, though. My curiosity got the best of me and I ended up taking a cigarette from his pack he left on his desk. It was time to go back home in Bellewood. As we arrived at the airport, my father received a phone call. He told me my uncle Jenkins was rushed to the hospital and is having open heart surgery. We immediately hopped back in the car to go see what happened. Unfortunately, by the time we got there, he had passed. I couldn't believe it. I just had the best time of my life with someone that I actually connected with...and he's gone. When we got home, I threw my jacket on my bed and saw the cigarette I took from my uncle fall out of one of the pockets. I contemplated, maybe if I smoked this I could be just like him. I climbed up on the counter in the kitchen and reached on top of the refridgerator to get some matches. I lit the cigarette, inhaled, then exhaled. Nothing happened. I tried once more, but this time with deeper breaths. Still, there was nothing. I remember thinking to myself, "What's the point of smoking these, anyway?". Then, all of the sudden, I felt a rush to my head. It was a light-headed, yet euphoric feeling. There was a tingling sensation in my knees. I felt relaxed and energized at the same time. The smell reminded me of my uncle and everything we did together. It was like he was alive again. It almost as if he was there with me. From then on I could relive those moments of my life over and over again. I never did quit smoking after that day. It became an obsession to say the least. I don't remember much growing up, but I certainly remember that. All I have to do is take a drag to not only remember, but feel the events that took place back then. I don't know if smoking is what killed him. I do know one thing, though. If I'm going to live with him, I might as well die with him.