Here in My Bedroom
A photo essay of my childhood bedroom, 1980s-2000ish.
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Summer is incredibly busy and time to write is sparse. In lieu of a longer essay this month, I thought I’d share a handful of photos taken in my bedroom over the years. I had the same room from about age 3 until the house was sold in 2019 (see my essay 1202 Belt Line Boulevard about my memories of the whole house).
First up, though, is a picture not taken in my bedroom. This is at my grandfather’s house. Everybody called him Dunk, even me. Dunk lived five minutes away from us in this big old house with pea green carpet and wood paneling and, I was sure of it, some kind of secret passage within the walls. That house always fascinated me.
This is me at two years old, my third Christmas, having just received what would be the most precious stuffed animal of my whole life, Gene. Gene was a monkey. His name came from the fact that he was given to me by my mom’s cousin Gene, the man who is kneeling in the left of the photo.
Let’s play “Where’s Waldo?” with Gene in the pictures below!
Here I am in my bedroom, circa 1985, when I’m about six years old. My bed takes up almost the whole room. There are two bride dolls here; my mom collected them for me. I would end up with 12 from different “eras”; I think these two were the “Eighties Bride” (on the right, the one with too much makeup) and the “Twenties Bride.” But they were only for display; not to be played with!
(And if you look closely on the bed on the far right, you can see Gene’s leg poking out).
This was a sleepover for my 13th birthday, 1992. We were painting our faces with far too much makeup. (We looked like “Eighties Bride” dolls on steroids). I will not reveal the faces of these lovely friends for their sake!
And I hated those curtains. (Note the unfinished dollhouse in the background).
It’s 1995, and the boys are out! (Selfies were around in the nineties; we just called them badly taken pictures). I got to fall asleep under the watchful eyes of all these guys; I can name them all. Can you? (Answers at the end of the essay).
1996. Me and my caricature, next to the lamp with the blue light bulb (I talk about how cool that light was in 1202 Belt Line Boulevard).
This is around that same time, 1996 or 1997. My room looked much the same throughout high school; I just kept adding more pictures of friends and sentimental trinkets, and more magazine photos of boys boys boys! (I still have all those collages; gotta save the beautiful stuff, right)?
I know this is my senior year because of the open journal on the desk. It has butterflies on the cover and a plethora of angst on the pages.
(Where’s Gene)?
Spring or summer 1997. The picture above my bed of a haunted house (more visible below) was a garage sale purchase I just had to have; it was so me.
I know exactly who I’m talking to on the phone, too. He shall remain nameless!
Last picture, around 2000. When I went away to college, my mom had begun to transform my room into a guest room. Slowly, my secondhand furniture and mismatched bedding disappeared, making way for a desk and dresser set and an overall “Country French” theme. I didn’t mind, really—it brought my mom great pleasure to take on this project, and after she finished it the room did look much nicer than it ever had before.
And in the phase represented in this picture, remnants of my personality (and otherwise) are still here. The haunted house. The unfinished dollhouse (same one from that earlier picture!!). And look who’s sitting on top of the bed. Why, it’s Gene!
I was slowly disappearing from my room, but I wasn’t gone just yet.
Reflection Questions:
Do you have pictures over the years of your childhood bedroom? What story do they tell? What’s missing?
If your bedroom had its own soundtrack, what would be on it?
Answers to the Boys on the Wall: Rider Strong, Vincent LaRusso, Will Friedle, Matt Lawrence, Joshua Jackson, Leonardo DiCaprio, Ethan Hawke, Leo again, Wil Horneff, and Brad Renfro (RIP), who gets his own wall in the other photo.
1202 Belt Line Boulevard is located in present day Richland County, South Carolina, on the land of the Tsalaguwetiyi (Cherokee, East) and Congaree nations.
Fun. Our bedrooms are the first places we get yo decorate and express ourselves. It’s a big deal!