My Perfect Fall Day Cutting School in 1992

I’m in the midst of a nostalgia kick, which always happens at this time of year. Autumn seems to have been when a lot of huge life events happen for me – my kiddo was born in August, so I will always associate autumn with sleepless nights, and figuring out breastfeeding. I got married in October. I met my hubby at the end of August, so autumn was when we were in those heady first days of romance.

But I always go to this wonderful perfect October day in 1992 when I get super-nostalgic. My parents were going through their divorce, so I was on my own a lot of the time. I had bought a Sega Genesis from a coworker a few weeks before, and one of the games on it was Wonder Boy in Monster Land, which I was thoroughly hooked on. I would play pretty much any time I wasn’t studying, or doing some sort of after school activity.

Also, 1992 was when Peter Cetera’s World Falling Down album came out, and I have always had a soft spot in my heart for Peter Cetera. The music is so schmaltzy, but I do love it so very, very much.

So one day in mid October, I decided to cut school. The following year I cut school a lot – I was a senior then, and was doing a bunch of AP courses as independent studies, and my parents were nowhere to be seen, so I spent a lot of time at home, hanging out with the dog, and studying on my own while the house was quiet.

But in 1992 the bottom hadn’t totally fallen out yet. I had had my drivers license for about 3 months, and I was enjoying the independence and freedom that I suddenly had. And I decided to use it to have the Ultimate Cut Day, in the completely nerdy way that only I could have done.

It started off when I was playing Wonder Boy after breakfast, and my dad was leaving for work. My mom was away – I don’t think she had completely left the house yet, but she was definitely awol a lot. Dad leaves, and normally that would be my cue to also finish up packing my bookbag and head off myself. I was driving myself to school by this time, so I didn’t rely on anyone to take me, and I didn’t have a bus I needed to catch.

But instead of getting up and packing my bag, I kept playing. I was so close to beating a Big Boss, and I really wanted to see it through. 15 minutes turned into half an hour, and then an hour, and pretty soon school called to check that my parents knew I was at home. I put on an appropriately-sick-sounding voice, and assured them that yes, they did know. I hadn’t realized how much time had passed, and it was suddenly 9:30. I decided that if I was going to cut school I was going to do it properly. I had about six hours before my dad would be home – he was also a teacher, though not at my school. I was going to make the most of those six hours.

I went out to the car, and drove into downtown Lancaster. This was the first time I had done this on my own. Nowadays downtown Lancaster seems quaint and sweet, with cobblestone streets, and traffic patterns that make complete sense compared to Spain. But then, it was scary! I kept freaking out about what would happen if I got in an accident, and my dad would know that I’d cut school. So I drove super slow and carefully.

I parked in a lot downtown, and went to Central Market where I felt cosmopolitan as I ordered coffee I didn’t know how to drink (I wasn’t a coffee drinker yet) and a bagel with fancy nut cream cheese. How exotic it all seemed to this country bumpkin!

I sat outside in the square eating my brunch, and then went across the street to the old Watt & Shand department store, which would be closed and torn down within a few years. I had gone in there with my grandma several times when I was a kid, and I wanted to look at the old fashioned escalators. While I was there, I bought my first ever day-planner in their stationary section. It was a Ziggy academic year assignment book, and it thrilled me to hold it in my little hands. I also got a pack of Crayola bold colored markers with thin lines. That day was the beginning of my obsession with planners and color coding assignments.

With my food digesting in my tummy, and stationary purchases in a paper bag, I decided that a perfect Cut Day included doing something cultural. So I headed west towards Wheatland, and decided to take a tour of James Buchanan’s house. Because yes, I truly was that nerdy as a 16 year old. I had been a student guide at Rock Ford, another museum of a Revolutionary War general, and I’d been to Wheatland on field trips, but I decided I needed to check it out on my own. I pretended to be a college student who didn’t have class then so as not to arise suspicion as to why I wasn’t in school.

After my tour, it was nearly 1pm, and I needed to get moving to get home. But my Perfect Cut Day wasn’t over yet. Oh no, there were still a few delights awaiting me. I stopped at this giant Christmas store that was close to the tourist trap outlets on Rt 30, about 5 miles from my house. I’ve always been a sucker for Christmas, and I wanted to go in and pick out ornaments for the mini tree I had started putting up in my room the past few years. While I was there, I bought my first scented candles. We never had scented candles or potpourri growing up because my mom had allergies, and couldn’t even stand being in stores where they were sold.

So I walked through the Christmas store, taking my time and smelling all the candles, immersing myself in cloves and cinnamon, and berries, and pine trees. I picked out three small jars to take home, thinking I would burn them when mom wasn’t around.

That day began another obsession – smell-goods in my space. Since then I’ve always bulk-bought candles, scented lotions, and perfumes. Scent is such a powerful sense, and my old perfumes and candles are like an olfactory scrap book. I can open a bottle of Dolce & Gabanna Light Blue, and I am magically transported to the spring of 2015, and feel all the feels I was feeling then. My Pacifica solid perfume in Madagascar Spice takes me back to the tough days of trying to get pregnant in 2011. And so it goes, back further and further.

I stopped for a sub at Subway, and got home by 2:30, a full hour before my dad would arrive. I found a book of matches and lit my candles in my room, and took out my Ziggy assignment book and markers, testing how it felt to write out my assignments in color coded lines. By the time my dad got home I was changed out of school clothes, and back in front of Wonder Boy, and my dad had no idea the awesome nerdy day I’d just had.

To this day, I listen to Peter Cetera, and I sit with my lit candles, and I sometimes think back to that awesome day I had. It was the first day I’d had a day on my own doing only the things that I wanted to do. I got hooked on three things that day: planners, candles, and doing new things completely on my own.