Last time I was thinking about my adolescence. The fact is that my youth occurred in the ’90s in Poland.
To be more precise, I spent those beautiful years in Malkinia Gorna. I remember these years as the classic “good old days.” But, at the same time. I want to stress that the “good old days are today.” On the one hand, I would like to stress that my past times are a great moment for me. Nevertheless, I believe that there is no better day than today. The fact is that spending the ’90s in Malkinia Gorna, Poland was a truly magical time for me.
It was when the remnants of gray, communist, and mundane reality gradually began to occupy colorful American capitalism.
Then, I didn’t know I had witnessed an enormous economic transformation. This process has lasted practically until today. Poland was continually changing in front of my eyes. Wild capitalism has brought many a dizzying fortune, but for others, it brought the necessity of observing the world from behind prison walls. Many Polish citizens, especially in the ’90s, became unemployed or homeless. It is a cost of capitalism. Nevertheless, the ’90s spent in Poland was one of the most beautiful periods of my life. Primarily, the first half of this period was an excellent time for me. Why? Because those early years of my childhood were when my brother still lived. Undoubtedly, I will remember those times until the end of my life.
Nevertheless, this does not mean that the successive years of the twenty-first century were worse.
They were just different. I met as many inspiring people in the twenty-first century as in the ’90s. I believe it is a beautiful moment to say “Thank you” to all the people I met during the ’90s and in the XXI century. All of you were (and, of course, still are!) a crucial part of my life.
Would I exchange all those happy years for anything? Probably just one thing: to return to my brother Marcinek’s life, who died in 1994.
