08/23/2025
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1ETZ3mCJLz/?mibextid=wwXIfr
So true!
If I could go back in time, I’d stop in the ’90s.
The years when I was a teenager, before technology took over our lives.
I’d go back to the Top 40 Countdown with Casey Kasem, the one where I waited for Bon Jovi’s Always to come on the radio so I could record it on my cassette player.
I’d watch all the classics with Mom again—Murder, She Wrote, Walker, Texas Ranger, and every great episode of TGIF. I’d run during commercial breaks for a quick bathroom stop or snack, because there was no pausing, no streaming, hardly any recording.
I’d walk Main Street with my friends and stop at that payphone, the one that took nickels and dimes. We’d call our crushes’ phones and always get their moms on the other end, because no one had a cell phone.
I’d watch Titanic in the theater with my friends—all five times. And I’d still never understand why Rose couldn’t move over for Jack. I’d sob through it all anyway.
I’d sit in a classroom where the teacher rolled in the TV cart, and I’d help clean chalkboard erasers, clapping the dust into the air.
I’d go back to the library where I created my very first email address and this time, I’d choose a better username.
I’d pass notes to Jessica and Sara and Nikki and Jodi and all my best girlfriends because that was our social media, long before social media.
I’d stop at the old café, the one that let us rent Duck Hunt, Paperboy, and Super Mario Bros. Then I would spend hours playing the video games with my sister and Dad.
I’d be thrilled all over again that one Christmas when Grandma gave me a silk shirt and Mom and Dad gave me a 3-disc CD player. Then I’d play Mariah Carey’s Butterfly CD over and over until it skipped so badly, I could hardly stand it.
I’d cut my hair short and twist it into rows, held back with butterfly clips.
I’d go back to those cornfield bonfires and drop Jolly Ranchers in our Zima. Those nights when we felt alive and free and grown-up, but we were only 18.
I’d sign everyone’s yearbook and promise to be best friends forever just like our graduation song said—even though deep down, we all knew that wouldn’t happen.
We didn’t know how good we had it. We grew up in a time before the world truly changed. We were the last generation before technology took over everything.
We lived in both worlds. And gosh, it was fun.
I’d go back to being a teenager in the ’90s...
just for a moment...
to feel it all again.
✍️ Leslie Means
