The Summer I Spent in a Trailer with the Beach Boys and Mario

The summer between my 6th and 7th grade year, I lived in a trailer. Our family had to move out of the house that we had rented the previous 8 years because our landlord sold it to someone. So, we were desperately looking for a new place to live. But my parents couldn’t find anything on such short notice, so our family moved a half hour away from Midland to Clare, and we lived in Aunt Alice’s vacation trailer in the middle of the woods. It was just down the dirt road from Grandpa and Grandma Buckley’s house. We spent the summer there as my parents continued to look for a new house to rent.

This was a stressful time for my parents.

But thanks to The Beach Boys and Mario, I had one of the best summers ever.

You’ve got to understand this. Rock ‘n roll was not allowed in our household. But my Mom was a closet light rocker. And for some reason, she ended up borrowing The Beach Boys boxed set from her friend, Mrs. Norwood – probably because she knew The Beach Boys would help her feel better this summer.

It sure did help us kids feel better. Man, we wore those cassettes out. Every morning, as soon as we got up, we put The Beach Boys in and sang along with Mom.

After 6 hours of school, I’ve had enough of the day…. I gotta DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANCE !!!

I’m pretty sure Dad never knew about The Beach Boys living with us.

This summer was also the summer I beat my first video game. We had an Atari, but Atari games go on forever and are unbeatable.

Believe me.

We tried.

After you get to level 100 on Joust, it just starts over at zero again. It says something like – Wave xx1. Defender is the same way. It’s very unrewarding. But my aunt had a Nintendo at the trailer, so I borrowed some games from Mrs. Norwood’s son, Bill. (The Norwoods were amazing friends to us. Bless their hearts.) With the help of Nintendo Power Magazine, I beat Super Mario 3 and still had about 30 lives left when beating it. I was on top of the world. The worst thing about it was that nobody was there with me to witness it. But I knew. I heard the game winning song and watched the credits roll. I thought I was dreaming. I felt like this guy. I couldn’t wait to tell my friends.

I kept The Beach Boys a secret, though. I kept those songs in my heart and mind. And they always made me smile as I played them back in my head. Especially, “In My Room” – which by the end of summer I finally had…

For the first time.

My own room.

In our new house.

Back in Midland.

“In My Room”

There’s a world where I can go and tell my secrets to
In my room, in my room
In this world I lock out all my worries and my fears
In my room, in my room

Do my dreaming and my scheming
Lie awake and pray
Do my crying and my sighing
Laugh at yesterday

Now it’s dark and I’m alone
But I won’t be afraid
In my room, in my room
In my room, in my room
In my room, in my room

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