Tag: growing up

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Too Aware to Play Along

Describe something you learned in high school.

There are a lot of people I know
who say high school was a waste of time…

—and I get it.

For some…
especially artists and musicians…
it never felt like a place
that knew what to do
with a fire inside—

more about obedience…
than imagination…

But for me—
it was different.

Those four years gave me something real…

I had free chorus… music classes…
adding even more
to the years I already lived in—

that’s where it happened—
I discovered my love
for writing…
for literature.

English—
that was probably my favorite…

History came close—
science right behind it…

Math…?

I could do it… sure—
but I never felt it.

I understood it—
just never connected to it.

Sports gave me another kind of education—
one built on sweat…
pressure…
timing…
and skill you had to prove…

The social side though…
I could’ve done without that.

It was the usual divide…
the cool kids…
then everyone else…

—and me…

somewhere in between…
too aware to play along—

But the teachers—
they mattered.

I had real connections there…

My building construction teacher…
he was one of the guys…

Sometimes we’d sneak behind the shed—
smoke a cigarette…
talk about life…

Other days—
we’d all jump him…
wrestle him to the ground…
leave him covered in dirt…
shirt torn up…

He’d walk into the teacher’s lounge
looking like he survived a tornado…

trying to explain what happened…

Man… we loved that guy.

But my English teacher—

she changed everything.

She introduced me to Julius Caesar…
my first taste of Shakespeare…

Lighting a path to more great literature…

And then there was music class—

where I learned something
I still tote today…

The power… of the rest.

Silence—

In music…
what isn’t played…
can speak louder
than what is.

Same with writing… 😎

So yeah…

I gained a lot from that place.

Funny thing—

earlier today…
before I even saw this prompt…

I was listening to the John Mayer Trio…
reading interviews with John…

—and in one of them he said…

“I knew school never did anything for me…
it never made sense…
I knew at 13 what I wanted—
to be a musician.”

And yeah…
I get that too.

But thinking about it…

…

school did do something for him.

…

it showed him
what he refused to let go of.

…

…

And that’s the lesson— 😎

…

…

They love to tell you
Stay inside the lines.

But something’s better
On the other side.

© 2026 Bryan Loia Hudson. All rights reserved.

`’.,°~

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Gee Wiz…

When you were five, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I don’t want to grow up… I’m a Toys R Us kid… they got the best… for so much less… you’ll really flip your lid… from bikes to trains to video games… it’s the greatest toy store there is… gee wiz… I don’t want to grow up… cuz baby… if did? I wouldn’t be a Toys R Us kid… 🤷‍♂️

© 2026 Bryan Loia Hudson. All rights reserved.

`’.,°~

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My Parents… The Strangest Love I’ve Ever Seen

I’ve been texting with a friend all day…
in between living life…

We got on the topic of this life of mine…
and somehow… my parents came up.

After telling him some things…
I started thinking…

Man… my mom and dad are strange.
Not them as people…
their relationship.

It’s just… different.

They’ve known each other forever… all their lives…

I mean since they were little bitty kids.
I believe… since babies.

They lived next door to each other.
Their families were close.
Friends… neighbors…

They grew up side by side.

Playmates…
then boyfriend and girlfriend as kids…
carried it through elementary school…
into high school…

They were in love.

They got married.
Planned to have me…

Succeeded 😎

I was born… started spinning around this earth… like everyone else.

…

Then when I was 5…
they got divorced.

Just like that.

It wasn’t some huge dramatic thing either…

they were just bored.

Like they realized
they were all each other had ever known…
thought they were missing something out there.

So they walked away.

…

Not long after…

they both met other people.
Quick.

Got married again.
Both of them.

Both of those marriages…
were disasters.

Five… six years later…
both divorced again.

…

But here’s the part that always got me…

through all of it…

they stayed close.

I mean really close.

Always together.

They’d hang out…
go to movies…
go shopping…
even take trips together.

Like… what?

It was like they were married…
but weren’t.

They got along better than most married couples I’ve ever seen.

…

Then one day… when I was 24…

they told me they needed to talk.

Both of them.

Sat me down in the living room…

real serious.

And I’m thinking…

Alright… what is this?
Who’s sick?
Is it cancer?
Who died?
What’s going on?

They’ve never done this like this before.

…

So they ask me…

“How would you feel…
if we got married again?”

…

“Sure! I’m all for it!
I want yall happy!”

“So who’s the lucky man and woman?
Double wedding or something?”

…

Nah…
Not even close.
Bruh…
They meant each other.
Again.

…

Now you’d think I’d be happy, right?

That’s my mom and dad.

But honestly?

It was weird.

Most of my life…
they were just friends.

They had been married to other people…
dated other people…

but somehow always stayed close.

…

So I gave them my blessing.

Even though it felt strange.

…

First time I saw them kiss…
it creeped me out… 😁

…

So they got married.

Bought a big house.

…

Within about six months…

everything started falling apart.

Arguing all the time.
Couldn’t get along.

I remember thinking—

What happened?

Where did that friendship go…
the one I watched my whole life?

…

They stayed married another ten years.

Barely speaking.
Sleeping in different rooms.

Both… unhappy.

…

Then they divorced.

Again.

…

Not long after that…

they became best friends.

Again.

…

Now I just have to laugh.

Like… you’ve got to be kidding me.

…

But I will say this—

I’ve learned a lot about love from them.

What to do…
what not to do…

…

One thing I know for sure…

When it comes to love…

I’m nothing like them.

…

And if I didn’t look like both of them…

…

I’d swear I was adopted.

…

© 2026 Bryan Loia Hudson. All rights reserved.

`’.,°~

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Winners and Losers

The Field That Raised Me…

What are your favorite sports to watch and play?

Sports have always been a huge part of my life. They’ve been there for as long as I can remember. I come from a long line of athletes. My grandfather even had an opportunity to pitch for the Detroit Tigers, but he chose to serve in World War II instead. My father was a great athlete too, and he was also my coach growing up, teaching me the game—and a lot about life—along the way…

I love a lot of sports, but my two main ones are American football and baseball. I played Little League all through my childhood and into my teens. I didn’t just throw on a uniform and participate—I excelled. I was a star, haha. I’m normally pretty humble, but I want to be accurate here so you can feel what I’m putting down 😅 I was mainly a pitcher, but in between starts I played shortstop and left field, doing whatever my team needed… I also hit for power and average.

In little league.. I once made an insane diving catch in left field to win the game… the crowd went nuts… bum-rushed me and carried me off the field on their shoulders cheering haha…

Sports were where I learned who I was when things got hard…

I kept it going into junior high and high school, playing both baseball and football. On the football field I lined up at quarterback, wide receiver, and at cornerback on defense, and I excelled there too. The dream was always to try and go pro in baseball, but along the way I got pulled into the music scene and ended up chasing that route instead. Even then, I never really left sports behind. I kept playing, jumping into league softball over the years and staying connected to the game any way I could.

As far as watching sports, my heart stays close to home. I love the Atlanta Braves and Falcons, and when it comes to college football, I’m a huge Georgia fan—Go Dawgs! Major League Baseball, the NFL, and college football are my mainstays, but I also enjoy basketball and golf, both playing and watching. Sports have always been more than just games to me. I’m thankful I grew up the way I did, grateful for the chance to play, I miss them days…

…….⚾🏈→🧠→💪→⛈️→†→’…….o8o→||→{me}→~⛈~→|†|→’ …….⚾🏈…….“`💥→🧱→|†|→’…….⚾+🏈→|me|→⛈️→’

My first year in little league… im holding the bat wrong in this pic.. my hands are opposite how they should be lol

1 Corinthians 9:24–26 (NIV)

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize… Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever…

© 2026 Bryan Loia Hudson. All rights reserved.

`’.,°~

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Little Grown-Ups…

my life as a Gen X kid…

This song has the “F” word in it… only once… in one line… so you may not want to listen… if it may offend you… 👇

I was born in September of  73`… a Gen X kid…
when I look back now… I realize things…


Yeah maybe I was doing stuff early on that probably could have waited until I was an adult…


but life was different back then…


the world was wider… lighter… rawer… simpler… all at once…


And us kids…


we were all little grown-ups…

From the time I was about eight until I was fourteen…


life couldn’t have been much better…


I grew up in a fairly large community of side by side houses… side by side families…
where everybody knew everybody…
neighbors didn’t just nod — they shared life…
they borrowed sugar…
they brought each other meals…
they sat in yards and talked about real things…
hearts… stories… struggles… faith… loss… laughter…


It wasn’t perfect —
but man… it was real…

My great-grandfather lived with us in those days…


he was one of a kind…


old as dirt… tougher than leather… stubborn as wet cement…


he had lived much…
And he never ran out of stories…


He’d sit outside every day… in this beat up old folding chair…


And half the time.. I’d pull another chair beside him… and just listen…


He was a war veteran — A Purple Heart… other medals he earned through blood and grit…


Infantry…
France…
WW2…


he’d tell me stories of laughing under fire… marching… waiting… freezing… fighting… barely surviving…


And I’d pepper him with a thousand questions… because I couldn’t get enough…

Later.. I found out from my grandmother…
that he had taken many lives in battle…
those stories… he never told…
those belonged to him… and God alone…


What I did see…
was a man who had walked through hell…


And somehow came back kinder…
tougher…


And still able to laugh a little…
And love a lot…


And without making speeches…
without preaching a word…


he was shaping the boy sitting beside him…

In those days…
my parents worked…


so most times I had to fend for myself…


I had a house key… freedom… responsibility…


but there were rules…


Do the right thing when nobody is watching…


Be  about character…
Be about integrity…

Be about it…

Be a decent human being…


And oh yeah…
be home by dark…

On the edge of our community…
the world exploded into a massive forest
deep woods stretching for miles…
thousands of acres…
trees… creeks… hidden lakes… trails… wildlife…


a giant playground for kids who hadn’t yet learned to be afraid of living…


I spent countless days exploring those woods…


fishing…
riding dirt bikes…
shooting guns…


no supervision… no phones… just trust…


Sometimes on Saturdays I’d wake up before the sun…
pack myself a sack lunch and some drinks…
grab my fishing poles and tackle box…
strap it all to the back of my dirt bike…
And disappear into the woods…

All… day… long…


Sometimes friends came along…
sometimes it was just me and the world —
And honestly… those were some of the best days…


Many mornings my great-grandfather would stop me before I left…
hand me his old .22 pistol in a worn leather holster…
And tell me to take it “for protection”…
because us kids needed guns back then haha…
we learned early… how to treat and respect a firearm…
it was a great privilege… responsibility… And it was ours…

I’d strap it to my waist like a cowboy…
fire up that dirt bike…
And ride off into the blue…


Freedom…
Adventure…
Responsibility…
Trust…

A childhood that felt like life training…


And I am grateful… deeply grateful…


Those years shaped me…
they toughened me…
they softened me…
they taught me courage… solitude… resourcefulness… respect… curiosity… wonder… independence…

I didn’t know it then…


but those were Holy days…


And I am thankful I grew up when I did…


in a world… full… of little grown-ups…

`’x.~¡-^;‐

Also… my great-grandfather’s middle name and mine… are the same… Loia… pronounced Loy like Joy…

I forgot to mention my dog… Buck… he was there too… he didn’t live inside a fence… he never knew a leash… he was free to roam… just like me… he followed me everywhere… he loved to swim… while I fished…

I’m the blood on your guitar… I’m that wave You caught back in 1975…

…

© Bryan H. 2025 — All Rights Reserved

`’.,°~