One of my co-workers and I were talking about writing memoirs today. I guess, in a way, this blog serves as a memoir. But that’s beside the point.

He was telling me that he would like to write a memoir, but doesn’t really know where he’d go with it. It’s understandable. He’s 19 years old and still trying to figure out what he’s doing with his life (see my last entry for more on that).

As he was saying all this though, I had a revelation. A shocking amount of my not-yet-existent memoir would take place at the pool I work at. Considering I spend about 2 1/2 months a year there, it’s a little strange. But the pool is the place I’ve done the majority of my “emotional growing up.”

When I started working there, I was the youngest guard by almost a year. I was the youngest guard for another summer after that, until we finally hired someone younger. I was so happy when we did because I got to ride shotgun occasionally.

So for the first two years, I was constantly surrounded by people who were older than I was - in some cases, five years older. I began to see there really was life after high school, the light at the end of the tunnel. I realized that I no longer wanted to be the giggly, nervous girl. I slowly began to come to my own.

Each September, after spending the summer at the pool, I would go back to school a little more confident and a lot more mature.

I think about my friends, and it’s astounding to me how much we would grow up between June and September. I think there’s something about summer - three months with few responsibilities - that always gave us time to figure out who we wanted to be come September. We could literally reinvent ourselves and come back whole new people.

So I think part of the growing up thing is summer, but I think part of it is the pool. My friends who go to or went to summer camp always talk about their experiences similarly. They became the people they are today because of their summer camps.

So maybe we all have one special place. A place where we become us. Do you have one? Tell me about it. I’m curious.

And on a totally different note, the Gazette’s Jonathon Wolfson emailed me a link to an article the other day. Why? Because Patty Smyth and Scandal are reuniting! That’s right! The band that brought us such hits as “The Warrior” and “Goodbye to You” is recording a new record and touring. Who wants tickets?