Nostalgia

I was struck last evening by a moment of nostalgia and memory and it was prompted by such a simple act.

I was sitting on my daughters bed, waiting for her to finish coloring a picture she had been working on. We were getting ready to read a story from a book she brought home from school. I was sitting there with her stuffed fox toy, pretending to read to it. After the story was done, she got up, took the fox and wrapped him in her favorite blanket and told him to stay warm while he waited for her to finish her picture. It was a simple gesture on her part...a loving gesture, really. It told me one thing...that she will nurture when she gets older....that she will care about the comfort of others and seek to make others happy. That certainly made me smile. But that's not all that moment did for me.

I watched her cross her room with the ease and carefree nature only the young can experience. She felt safe. She was in her personal zone, her safe place, her home. You could see she was comfortable and that she believed, even for that one moment, that all was right with the world, and it felt good.

I recall feeling that as a child...that my room was my safe place where the world couldn't touch me. My room as it was no longer exists in the physical world, yet, in some strange way, it still exists in my mind and I feel like on some level, it's still there, and always will be.

That thought brought waves of nostalgia rolling over me, and as quickly as it came, it was gone. I felt the past for that brief moment and could swear I could hear my mother puttering around in the kitchen and hear the television in the living room....and my father's smokers cough, too. It was a strange moment, but blissful and beautiful as well. Most people have a mixed bag kind of childhood...good and bad moments squeezed together in a tight little ball, and we had our share of questionable moments back then, but oh, there is something about the past, the time we spend being taken care of, that makes us feel peaceful, no matter how difficult those times could really be.

I could smell the dinner cooking, hear it sizzling on the stove....hear the canned laughter coming from the wooden console television, (is he watching I Love Lucy again?!) and for a moment I was back. Just a moment...but when you get to be my age, a moment is just enough.

I recommend nostalgic moments for everyone to experience at least twice a month...it gets you thinking, and lets face it, thinking is what makes us human and keeps the mind fresh...so get out there and stir up some happy memories....or make some to enjoy later.

Just don't let me catch you sitting around and wasting time...whatever you do....just DO IT!