4th Grade Me

I recently ran across a journal that I kept in Ms. Blume's 4th grade English class. Ms. Blume taught at Ressie Jeffries Intermediate School in Front Royal, VA. I have very fond memories of her, and now wonder if she was any kin to children's author, Judy Blume.

The journal, bound in a faded orange cover with a hand-sketched picture of my father centered under my name, handwritten in cursive, is chocked full of little surprises. Of course, I would hope that I'd changed in many ways since 4th grade, but the best moments in this time capsule are the discoveries of the ways that I'd remained the same.

I'd like to share excerpts from this journal. All of the grammatical errors, misspellings, and word omissions will be preserved. Though good at spelling--and didn't mind letting you know this--my grammar was evidently very challenged--even moreso than it is now. (I had no idea how much until revisiting this journal.)

On September 10, 1984--only 4 months after the death of my paternal grandmother--the opening entry explored my feelings:

My name is James. My grandmother died in May or June. The reason why I know this is my mom told me and I started to cry because I loved her very much. And now I still miss her. I still have another grandmother. At her funeral was a very sad funeral.
 

September 11, 1984, my idea of nerd fun made an appearance:

I like to play outside at night. Sometimes we play Hide & Seek. It is fun playing at night. I like playing on a hill at night. Last night nobody was outside but I still played. Yesterday we was playing Batman and I was the Riddler.

September 18, 1984, I just wanted to list my favorite movies:

. . . E.T., Annie, The Toy, Jungle Book, Savvanah Smiles, Breakin', Rocky III, Snow White, A Man from Snowy River, Gremlins, Cujo, The Sword in the Stone, Stir Crazy, Brer Rabbit, Superman III, Footloose, Purple Rain, Beat Street
 

Who even remembers Savannah Smiles?  Well, just in case you don't. . .

Nothing beat Saturday morning cartoons in the 80s! Sept. 20, 1984, I talk about a couple of my favorites:

My favorite cartoon to watch on Saturdays are Muppet Babies and Saturday Supercade. On Muppet Babies last week the Muppets was making to much noise that a officer kept calling because he was trying to sleep. On Saturday Supercade they showed Kangaroo, on Kangaroo these monkeys' were trying to escape from the zoo.

Then there was my brother--Sept. 21, 1984:

I got a brother he's 4 years old, his name is T. J. he thinks he's tough. My little brother will sometimes wrestle you but he's a shy boy.
 

Sept. 25, 1984, I tried to articulate my plans for the future. I knew I wanted to do something that I would enjoy:

I like being silly to make people laugh. Sometimes they don't laugh but I still try. I think when I grow-up I will be a clown but not in a circus, I'm going to do it at a hospital to cheer patients up. I'll think they'll like it. And sometimes I even might go places like a clown and give candy to children. And I will have a lot of friends. I might even be rich. I'll call myself Mr. Clown Around. I will go to other states and do it too.

I LOVED CARTOONS! This is from Sept. 26, 1984:

I like looking at cartoons when I get home from school. I look at Fat Albert when I get home. My mom likes looking at Fat Albert too. I can just name a few Cosby Kids.
 

Sept. 27, 1984. . . stop bullying:

I want to take karate. My mom keeps saying she will let me take it but she doesn't. The only reason I'm taking karate is because big kids sometimes pick on me. I hope I take black belt, but when you begin you have a white belt.
 

I did end up taking Shorin-Ryu for a couple of years with Mr. Drago in Front Royal. I think his son is now an actor. I quit when I was only one belt away from BLACK.

*****

At the age of 9, I didn't quite grasp the concept of hard work. If I did, I probably would've been more appreciative of my father. All I knew was that he was "boring."  Oct. 2, 1984:

"Whenever I'm bored I get angry. Yesterday I was bored, I didn't do anything yesterday. I hate staying with dad all alone because he does is sleep all day when he comes home.
 

Pops knows I loved him! This was a man who commuted from Front Royal to Northern Virginia every day to work construction for 12+ hours.

*****

 

In 1984 Front Royal, Kmart was like the mall. Oct. 5, 1984:

 

I like to go home on Fridays because they're fun. The things I do on Fridays is play go places get out of school for a couple days. I like when we go to K-mart. And today is the day for all of it. I hope tonight we go bowling.
 

That weekend, I did get to bowl for the first time. Oct. 8, 1984:

Last night my mom, dad, brother, and best friend went bowling. My total score was 56 my moms total score was 61 my dads total score was 112 my friends total score was 80. This was my first time I ever bowled and it was fun.

On Oct. 9th, 1984, I must have been feeling boastful:

I know how to spell a word with 34 letters in it, it is called supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. I can spell the most longest words. In 2nd grade when we done spelling b's me and my friend would be the last ones up.
 

 Once again, on Oct. 10, 1984, I didn't seem to mind patting myself on the back:

I like to act silly because it makes some people laugh. But sometimes they just call me names because I become a little over-loaded. I am a little artist as some people say. One-time I drew Bigfoot going over two cars, and oneimte I drew Q-bert at Q-park and it looked good.
 

Ah, the 80s . . .


 October 1984 must've been National Bragging Month. Oct. 23, 1984:

I am a good a good jumper and I'm trying not to brag. One day a was running and my brothers bigwheel was in my way so I jumped over it and landed on my feet. I can almost jump over my fence.

 

On Nov. 1, 1984, I must've been answering questions posed by Ms. Blume:

1. If I could fly (free) to any place in the world I'd go to California.
2. The reason I'd go to California is to meet movie stars.
3. One thing I'd like to bring back is Latoya Jackson.
 

Now when we think of Latoya, we think of this:

 

 

However, I still have a crush on 1984 Latoya Jackson!

 



 And she was talented too:

 Okay, maybe there was a reason why she did Playboy.

*****

 

Nov. 5, 1984, I described an incident that occurred on the previous night in "The Village:"

Last night it was this man running crazy on my street, and he said he had a gun so mom called the police. Before the police got there the man kept banging on cars and cursing at children, and say he's going to kill somebody. When the police arrived they started looking for him, and never found him.
 

I hope they found him eventually!

On Nov. 7, 1984, I simply stated:

Last night R. Reagan won the election 202 to 3.
 

 Maybe that was the score by the time I went to bed. LOL!

*****

I was so shy. No surprise why I didn't like to tell people my close-kept "secret." Nov. 9, 1984:

I'm finally giving away my secret that I had since last year, but I know how to breakdance. The reason why I haven't told some people is because I'm shy. The person who taught me is my best friend Cory who is 11 years-old.

 

 Wow! Nov. 14, 1984:

If I could go back back in time I would like to meet Robert E. Lee because I would like to be in the war.
 

I'm completely judging 4th Grade Me right now.

 

 

 

 

Dec. 4, 1984, I listed what I wanted for Christmas:

 

This year I want a big tape recorder, Bigfoot, a Commodore 64, and some transformers. The Commodore 64 is The one I want most.
 

 Jan. 2, 1985:

The thing I received for Christmas I liked most was my Purple Rain tape.
 

My parents, however, still regret that purchase to this day.

On Jan. 22, 1985, we had to rate the 10 most important characterstics found in a friend:

1. helpful
2. understanding
3. truthful
4. polite
5. forgiving
6. smart
7. cheerful
8. creative
9. clean
10. athletic
 

 On Jan. 23, 1985--10 days after turning 10--I responded to 3 questions:

1. If I could have any talent I wanted I would choose comedy because I like to be funny.
2. If I had all of the money I wanted I would want it to be 1-cent because a penny save is a penny earn.
3. If I could make one wish for the world it would be to be a famous comedian because I like being funny.
 

Never quite got over that wish. . .

Fast forward to April 10, 1985:

One person I admire much is Mr. T because he's tough. When I pretend to be this person I say, "I pity the fool's who mess with me because I'm Mr. T." I feel like fighting.
 

 On May 8, 1985, I mused on the upcoming release of New Coke:

On this date in 1886 Coke was sold for the first time. Coke is planning to change their recipe. I think it's a good idea. I hope they stop putting the coca leaf in it. It would probably be better tasting. I wonder if it will have a substitute for the leaf. I don't want them to spoil my drink.
 

Coke Is It!

 

The final entry that I'm going to post is from May 30, 1985. I'm still curious as to how this would taste:

 On this date in 1848 William Young of Baltimore patented the first ice cream freezer. . . I'm going to invent Hot Dog Sherbet with a hot dog bun on top.
 

Welcome to the mid-80s as I remembered it. Thanks for reading this little journey. I hope that it brought back some memories for those who were born before '84. For the young'uns, the 80s were REAL. Don't make me post He-Man cartoons from Youtube. . .