We’re Gonna’ Party Like It’s Nineteen Ninety… TWO???!

1992:

Average New House Cost: $122,500

Average Yearly Income: $30,030

Average Monthly Rent: $519

Cost of Gas: $1.05

Cost of a Pound of Bacon: $1.92

U.S. President: George H.W. Bush

Movies: Aladdin – Batman Returns – A Few Good Men – Sister Act – The Bodyguard – Wayne’s World – Basic Instinct – Honey, I Blew Up the Kids

Musicians: Pearl Jam – Color Me Badd – Nirvana – Boyz II Men – Madonna – U2 – Kiss – Mariah Carey – Bon Jovi – Eric Clapton – Def Leppard – Metallica – and of course, Michael Jackson

TV Shows: Law & Order – America’s Funniest Home Videos – Home Improvement – Rugrats – Jerry Springer – Ren & Stimpy – Matlock – Oprah – Married… with Children

January 1992: George Bush pukes in the Japanese Prime Minister’s lap.

February 1992: Mike Tyson is found guilty of rape.

March 1992: Bill Clinton is declared the likely winner of the Democratic primaries.

April 1992: Microsoft releases Windows 3.1.

May 1992: Space Shuttle Endeavour makes it maiden flight.

June 1992: I graduate from 5^th grade!

July 1992: Drug lord Pablo Escobar escapes from prison.

August 1992: Hurricane Andrew hits Florida and kills 23 people.

September 1992: Over 165 people are arrested for money laundering in relation to cocaine trafficking in the U.S., Colombia, and Italy.

October 1992: Cartoon Network is first broadcasted on TV.

November 1992: Bill Clinton is elected the 42^nd President of the United States.

December 1992: President Bush flies spends New Year’s with U.S. troops in Somalia.

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In case you missed it, the most important thing in 1992 happened in June – I graduated from elementary school!  This is a big deal, people!  It’s your last year as a “kid” – Next year, you’re off to the dreaded middle school to begin those years of non-stop obnoxiousness, bad attitudes, and raging hormones.

All of us in Pakansink Elementary’s Class of ’92 were nervous and excited at the same time about getting ready to say goodbye to our baby school and enter the terrifying world of lockers and changing classes.  That was obviously back before the days of cell phones, so we all said our goodbyes to each other, knowing that most of us wouldn’t see our friends until that September, when we would be standing, lost, in the halls of middle school hell, hoping to at least catch a glimpse of each other during lunch.

Of course we all had yearbooks in which we scribbled our promises to keep in touch and call each other from the rotary phones that hung by tangled cords in our kitchens.  But everyone in our class also got a t-shirt.  The teachers passed around marker pens so we could all sign our names on our BFFs’ shirts, in an attempt to never forget the good old days of chasing each other around the playground.

And that’s just what we did… We created memories on that last day of school that some of us may have forgotten in time.  But not me… I still cling to those memories of not having a care in the world.  I reminisce often about the days where we were still embarrassed to talk to that cute boy or shopped for hours looking for the perfect Barbie birthday present.

Fortunately, I’ve reconnected with my closest Class of ’92 BFFs on Facebook.  It’s amazing to me how more than 20 years can pass between conversations with girlfriends, yet we can pick up right where we left off, updating each other on the highs and lows of real life without missing a beat.  Friendship is truly an incredible thing.