#JamesStrong. James Ranahan

      I was born September of ’98 in Manchester, New Hampshire. We didn’t have the most money, and living in New Hampshire or New England, in general, isn’t cheap. So we always made the best of our situation. Fortunately, we lived right across the street from our local radio station, so when the radio needed a first caller, my mom’s phone always called first, and we always won great tickets to events such as, Disney on Ice, and Cirque du Soleli.

      My dad worked at a cleaning company and made his own schedule. He worked third shift because that’s when the restaurants or wherever he cleaned that night was closed. He only had two days off a year, so early morning Saturdays at around 3:00 a.m., he would put me up at the bar with an ice cream sundae that I made and more popcorn than I could ever imagine with my eyes glued to the television hanging from the ceiling.

      The Ninety-Nine’s bar and pub was where I got to see him at. I would often visit him after school, and occasionally, I would stop by where my mom worked at. I remember it was at MicroVision Inc. I never really got to go inside, but I remember waiting to pick my mom up after-school to take her home. I went to Seabrook Elementary, and I loved it there, great fieldtrips, making friends, show and tell, getting along with all of my classmates, and good food.

      I skipped preschool, so I was a year behind in age and a little behind academically. It felt like almost every day I was either at Hampton Beach or at the local apartment pool at Parke Place Village Townhomes. Just about every weekend, we were headed up to Boston to see my mom’s parents. I loved visiting them; it was a lot of walking but as a little kid, all the lights, traffic, and skyscrapers were so mesmerizing to me as a young kid.

      I loved going to the aquarium as a child; The New England Aquarium was my favorite place growing up, and I loved getting the see the penguins. Penguins are my favorite animal, and I loved them so much that I had a stuffed penguin collection and had a name for each one that I’m pretty sure I forgot all their names. I even bought a book on penguins at the aquarium that I’m pretty sure that I never fully read it. I’m just amazed and mesmerized to even look at them.

      My parents claim that at just two years of age, I could name any brand of a car. They said that they sat me in front of a car magazine, and I would be able to name any car they pointed at. I wish that there was some video recording or pictures of this, because that’s a pretty impressive talent, especially at such a young age. Life was really good for me in Seabrook, New Hampshire; all of my friends either lived in the apartment near mine, and we could just play outside, or they lived maybe ten minutes away from me, and I would just hang out at their place. Every day was just wake up go to school with my friends, hang out with them after school or do something with them that weekend. I remember Nick, Josh, Joey, and Ryan were my four main friends that I would hang out with. I had plenty more friends, but unfortunately, I can’t remember them all.

      The Seabrook Rec Center is where I was if I wasn’t with my friends outside or at my house; we would always hang out together at the Rec Center. Depending on what season of sports was going on, I usually was playing whatever sport was in season then. I was very active and always had a fun, busy schedule with all of my friends. When summertime came along, the Seabrook Rec Center had summer camp for when we were out of school, and our parents were working. They separated us into groups by grade, and each grade had different sea creature names because of how close we were to the Atlantic Ocean. The Rec Center always had fun activities for us all to do. Sometimes they even had field trips where everyone in your grade group had a chance to go.

      My dad swears that my second words were “pacies” and that was when I was pointing at the television trying to pronounce patriots. All Boston sports are very big in all of New England, and it’s a part of the culture to enjoy and to cheer for Boston. My ethnic background is hard to tell, but I know that I am one half Russian from my mother. She was born in Moscow, and my father was born in Nashua, New Hampshire. I have one younger brother who was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. So we all root for and love all Boston sports, plus that’s where most of our family originated.

      Dunkin’ Donuts munchkins chocolate and glazed were there for all the kids every Sunday at church, so Dunkin’ always brings back good memories of wanting to eat all of the munchkins and drink all of the hot chocolate. Papa Gino’s Pizzeria was and always will be my favorite pizza place. I remember having birthdays there, and all the kids got little ice cream cups with a wooden spoon, and we got to pick vanilla or chocolate, and we were so excited to pick a flavor when we already stuffed our faces with delicious pizza.