Do you remember what your best friend’s house was like when you were a kid?
Did you hang out inside or outside more? Was their family around? Did you get into trouble? Can you remember the color of their carpet or wallpaper? Could you draw it?
I used to hang out at my neighbor’s so often that Jenny asked, “Adam, don’t you have a house?” I did, and it was 20 feet away, on the other side of our Oldsmobile.
But my best friend—Josh, who I’ve known since 1985ish—he lived in Mexico, NY, which is extremely out in no-man’s-land. There were no neighbors out there at all, from what I can tell, just 1,000,000 frogs jumping around on the county road all night. I remember so many things about his house, vividly, that I really wanted to draw it.
But, I can’t draw.
I’m not a very good drawer, unlike some people who can draw with fire, so this was a perfect assignment for me. Not being good at something takes all the pressure off, and without feeling any pressure, I was able to just enjoy the nostalgic trip down memory lane (or State Route 104, as it were). Here’s my terrible-but-perhaps-not-inaccurate drawing:
I’ve yet to show it to Josh, but once I do he’ll likely scowl and tell me all the things I’ve forgotten.
Incidentally, Josh and I have kept in touch pretty well. He’s a musician as predicted by all the time we played music next to the piano there in the back right room of his house and later, louder, in the garage.
Can you draw?
I’d love to see how you remember your best friend’s house. And now I can! Just use this form below to upload your memory. It can’t be any worse than my sketch, but if it is worse, that’s awesome too.
After I drew the above on a sheet of paper, I took a picture with my phone. You might use Adobe Fresco to draw digitally, or take yours to Walgreens and get it scanned. There are no rules to this!