Böcker av Anthony Lombardi

In the spring of 2023, I started unpacking from our move and going through old boxes. As with most people, when we do this we can't help but to reminisce as we dig through the boxes that reveal a bit a history from our earlier lives. I have a few boxes strictly dedicated to a particular time in my young life, my coaching years. As I dug through the bin filled with endless game tapes, old playbooks, trophies and pictures I came across a specific picture that when I looked at it, it was as if the floodgates of memories came crashing down on me. The team picture of the 1993 Championship from the Berryessa Cougars.

Growing up in the 80's was a great time for any kid. Everyone practiced dancing to Thriller on MTV. Our hearts were warmed by the alien who visited. Girls wore bracelets and rocked the Madonna lace gloves. Being a kid meant our parents kicked us out of the house and we had to be home by streetlights. Neighbors talked to each other, and moms ruled the block. The Ultimate 80's Kid is a memoir of growing up through the years of being a young innocent kid, a rebellious teenager and a reflective adult. One day you're playing hide and go seek with your friends and the next day your parents get divorced and you move to the middle of nowhere surrounded by cows and pigs. Being the youngest of four children was difficult enough but dealing with parents getting divorced, leaving all your friends and having to learn a whole new world during a young boy's life can have an impact many years later. Experiencing the innocence of a first kiss and girlfriend, to the years of rebellion by stealing your grandma's car and going to juvenile hall, realizing that you were on a destructive path in life and ultimately coming to admire, love and respect the person who cared most for you...your mom.

It was the Summer of 1982 and 3 families came together for a family reunion. With 10 teenagers surrounded by a lake, fun and adventure there is plenty of opportunity for mayhem, and mischief to get into. But for the 13 year old boys; James, Johnny and Tony, this would be the most memorable experience of their young lives. James, Johnny and Tony set out on the goal of getting enough courage to speak to girls to get ready for the 8th grade school year. But when the boys ran into the Charlie's Angels their world would turn upside down and they would gain a full life of experiences during the short 6 week vacation. With the encouragement, guidance and support of their heroic sisters; Sonya and Kerry, the 3 boys would share an entire lifetime of emotions of laughter, joy, tears and sorrow as they would experience the tenderness of a first kiss, experience the warmth of a first love and ultimately experience the gut wrenching feeling of a first heartbreak. Surrounded by Charlie's Angels, their goof ball older cousins, their Superhero sisters and tormented by the Douche Bag Brothers, the summer vacation of 1982 at the Clear Lake Family Resort would be the Best Summer Vacation Ever.