Nothing Hit Like Rockford Summers When We Were Kids

Summers in Rockford Just Hit differently. Do you ever reminisce about the summers we experienced as kids? My childhood took place in Rockford, which was an extraordinary experience. The second school let out, everything changed. The summer air, along with the sunlight and ground texture beneath your feet created a unique sensation. Our feet became indestructible by July because we spent nearly the entire summer barefoot.

We were always outside. The temperature reached 95 degrees with humidity but we persisted in playing outdoors. From the garden hose, we drank water that started off hot before becoming ice cold and perfect. We ate so many popsicles throughout the summer that we covered miles of them—cherry, grape, and those red-white-and-blue bomb pops that melted before we finished eating them.

One of the best things? Mr. Softee. The sound of Mr. Softee's tune reached us from blocks away and made time stand still. We sprinted hard with crumpled dollar bills in hand, desperate to reach him before he drove away. The initial taste of the soft-serve ice cream during a sweltering day was truly incredible. Unreal.

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GROWING UP WITH NO DOORS IN SCHOOL BATHROOM STALLS!

Parker Woods Lake and Backyard Burgers
Growing up in Parker-Woods, we had our beach and lake and we used to swim all day long, and the water there felt like it captured the essence of summer in one place. The experience needed no extravagance to be enjoyable. We spent hours at the lake doing cannonballs and belly flops until we floated and laughed until our fingers became wrinkled. The beach is gone, and the lake is no longer a swimming lake, but the memories will always live on.

The aroma of burgers grilling on the charcoal grill by my mom stands out as one of my strongest memories. That’s a core memory right there. The smoky aroma wafting through the yard told you it was time to return home. We’d race into the house from wherever we’d been playing—either soaked from swimming or coated in dust from mini-bikes—and then we’d eat like we hadn’t eaten all day.

Then we would get on our bikes or mini-bikes, depending on whether we had gas or not, which we went through a lot of. Those were the days.

Sleeping Under the Stars and Blasting WROK
On certain evenings we set up a tent in the backyard and enjoyed our time with just some flashlights and a bag of chips. Our late-night conversations about random topics went on as we brushed away mosquitoes and avoided frightening each other with spooky tales. We listened to crickets as our background music but also tuned into the radio.

WROK 1440 was the go-to. The station broadcast Top-40 music and remained active around the clock during that period. Portable radios blasted the station while we heard it drift over from people's garages as it played hits from Cheap Trick to Hall & Oates. The music of those songs remains etched in my memory with strong connections to the scent of summer air and the carefree sensation of those days.

Maybe We Can Feel It Again
As adults our lives now include more noise and busier schedules. Occasionally, I believe that fragments of those summers might still be discoverable. Perhaps we can relive these carefree feelings through simple activities like grilling with friends outdoors or jumping into a lake and sitting outside with bare feet in the grass while staying disconnected from our phones.

It doesn’t have to be big. Just a moment. These moments bring back the sensation of being a child.

Because honestly? Summer hasn’t gone anywhere. We need to learn how to connect with summer in the middle.