[93po]

i'm in my mid 30s now, and I remember as soon as i was old enough to ride a bike well, i would ride it over a mile away from home all by myself, probably around age 7 or 8. i got lost one time and was really flustered, starting crying, knocked on a literal random door, and a very nice old lady let me use her phone to call my mom, who was slightly embarrassed, lol. this was in a large city in texas for context.

another random andecdote: my older brother, probably 11 or 12 at the time, got in a lot of trouble with my mom and they had a big fight. my mom just straight up kicked him out of the house with no shoes, and literally walked barefoot over several miles to his friend's house.

reflecting on that gives me a lot of introspection to the nature of the parenting i received.