Growing up……..at the time it seemed like a daunting challenge. Looking back, it was the best time of our lives. Despite all the challenges and mistakes we made, somehow we all got through it and came out all right.

For all of us there were people, places and events that were instrumental in forming our early ideas, morals and behaviors. Teachers tried to mold us into thinkers, Parents struggled to teach us right from wrong, friends tried to persuade us to try new things and events gave us a chance to explore how we interacted with others.

Places on the other hand are remembered differently. Remembering a special place can trigger intense memories. Details come back in vivid colors as if it were yesterday. For many, the places we spent our High School years are remembered with particular fondness. Maybe it's a Science lab, a particular hallway where you had a locker, McDonalds, back stage in the Auditorium, the Football stadium or behind the bleachers. The list is endless but for many of us there is one place that we'll remember forever….."Behind the White building".

The White Building….. it stood out from the rest of the School buildings like a fish out of water. Painted white as new fallen snow it could not be missed. If you had a class there as an entering freshman it was the one place you'd find easily without asking directions. It stood apart from the rest of the school's main building, out at one end of a parking lot, almost as an after thought. It wasn't even made of the same bricks, it was cinder block. Even its shape was irregular. There were nooks and recessed walls providing places where for a brief moment you could almost hide from the rest of the world.

And there lies its special place in our hearts and minds. At night these hidden places and shadows provided a sanctuary, a place to hide away, a place to try something new, a place to truly experience growing up away from prying eyes.

For me it was my first real School Dance. Sure… I'd already danced with girls but not with that "ONE" girl who I thought really liked me. I guess you'd say it was my first date.

If I try I can remember the dance, but after the dance….Behind the White building, those memories race forward like a runaway freight train.

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