“Let me tell you something kid, everybody gets one chance to do something great. Most people never take the chance, either ’cause they’re too scared, or because they don’t recognize it when it spits on their shoes. This is your big chance, and you shouldn’t let it go by. Remember, kid, there’s heroes and there’s legends. Heroes get remembered, but legends never die. Follow your heart, kid, and you’ll never go wrong.”

Nothing emulates “childhood” like a mother saying, “You better be in the house when those street lights come on. I know that.” This was the point in life which brought the first real friendships, the infatuation with summer, the countless sleepovers and even a few scraped knees in the process to validate things. Life was simple in hindsight, regardless if staying out past curfew or walking to the corner store by yourself felt like the most “grown up” thing a kid could do.

Like everything else, those days eventually pass and scraped knees morph into student loan payments and sleepovers take the form of working overtime. Yep, with freedom comes responsibility and we’re all reminded of that everyday as an adult. Still, the memories mean everything. Time machines have yet to be invented making the power of scrapbooks, or in this case movies, our own portals to the past. As we all get older year after year, so do the people, places and things we left in our youth.

Eighteen years ago today one of the finest childhood movies (or any “-hood” for that matter), The Sandlot, was released.