Yakedy Yak…don't talk back.

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Nothing brings me back to being 8 years old and running around barefoot in the backyard at a sunday BBQ like the Stand By Me soundtrack. I rediscovered it this morning, and it’s getting me through the hell that is Spring Cleaning today. While thoughts of the boys above pulling leeches out of their underoos still gives me the willies, there’s something about the Bobette’s singing Mr. Lee that will always remind me of my childhood here in The Valley…back when The Weiner Factory was packed every day of the week, white convertible VW Rabbits ruled the road, and everywhere in LA really was only 20 minutes away.

Back in those good ‘ol days we call the ’80′s, I was treated at LA’s Children’s Hospital for a mastoidectomy that saved my life. My ears had been causing me problems since the day I was born, and as a result, they were excluded from my parent’s health care plan (thank you, American Health Care System.) I’ll spare you guys the pathetic images of my bandaged little head as I spent 17 days recovering @ Children’s, but suffice it to say that my parents were hit with a bill that would make anyone want to run for the hills. It was thanks to the kindness of strangers that we were able to qualify for a grant that paid for most of my treatment, and tomorrow I’ll have a chance to pay it forward at a Charity clothes swap that will benefit the very hospital where I underwent my first operation all those years ago.

I’ve spent the morning cleaning out my overflowing closet (and anyone that knows me knows what a daunting task this is) – fighting the urge to save my Catholic School Uniform skirt any longer (y’know, just in case I need it for a Halloween Costume,) reminding myself that the kids at Children’s Hospital LA are a worthwhile cause for these red sparkly roller-skates to go to, along with my extensive collection of Canal Street Couture.

So I bid you farewell, closet-full of Forever 21 clothes from my heavier days, Salmon-colored Marc Jacob’s pants I bought on eBay, and floor length Michael Kors jacket I snagged at this same event last year…time for you to do good elsewhere.

If you’d like to help out the patients at Children’s Hospital LA during these tough times, click here to discover all of the different ways you can get involved.

Feed Me Seymour

alexandra

I must have been 8 or 9 when I saw the photos of you post-op at CH. I'd never heard the term "tubes in their ears" let alone that said tubes could fall out. I can remember trying to figure it out in my head. If only I'd had wikipedia.

When Stand By Me can out, a ton of the mailboxes in our neighborhood made friends w baseball bats. Do you remember that? Back when kids did outdoorsy things. I remember the 80s filled with an ever roving weekend pool party from Krauss to Sears to Schecter to Haines, and weekday meetups for fro yo at Penguins or You're the Boss. And the movies: Dirty Dancing, Adventures in Babysitting, Troop BH, Goonies, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun...take that Aquamarine. We had a good time, didn't we? I may have to start looking through old albums next.

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Morgan

hahaha - like, totally, but that was the Valley in the '90s.

Lindsey

sometimes when i read your memories of the valley when we were kids, i think to myself, did we grow up in the same valley? While my older cousin definitely had a VW Rabbit and I briefly dated someone who worked at the Weiner Factory, my memories are more about killing boredom with backyard parties, nervously pretending to shop in Val Surf because all the guys were hot (and again we were bored,) soccer games in Van Nuys and the rocky dirt fields in Balboa, Oasis Liquor, lunches at In N Out, you getting free fries at McDonalds and me eating Mexican Pizzas at Taco Bell. Gross. Sneaking out of Karla's house or into Debbie's house. Alex Velasquez's house parties and your house parties :) Maybe I'll do my Valley tribute for my next blog, kicking it North Hollywood Style.