Cool is a state of mind

When it is hot out and the heat of a summers day is pounding down on me, I want nothing more than water. My parents didn't have a pool unless you count a small wading pool. Eleven of us could never have fit, so water fights were in fashion in our home.

My brothers being competitive got a bright idea one day; they climbed on the roof with a hose and sprayed us from above. It was just like a mountain Dew commercial. Those commercials from the seventies and eighties where a bunch of teenagers are havin' some fun in the blazin' sun. 

 I can't remember whose idea it was, but those of us on the ground were squealing with joy as we got drenched. 

We didn't have a lot of money, we had cut off jeans, little to entertain us and yet we had the time of our lives. All you need to have fun is a few other people to share the memory with and the right state of mind. Just like that Mountain Dew song, "Being cool you'll find is just a state of mind."

I went without many things as a kid, but the memories I have are not of lacking, they are of abundance.  I know why I loved Mountain Dew so much back then...their commercials were awesome, and they reminded me of us... a group of people enjoying the simple pleasures of life.

—Allison Ochs Social Worker M.S.W. , Coach, Expat, Mother of three, Wife

Photo by Luke Porter on Unsplash