I recently turned the big “5-0” a couple of years ago and what was even more humiliating, was receiving an AARP membership letter in the mail the very next day…Ahhh! Anyway, I have always been a nostalgic-type guy and I have become even more so during the past months.
I usually find myself a few times each day thinking to myself, “just once, I would love to go back in time and do…..” basically, reminding myself of the days or years in my past. It always brings a type of warmth to my heart and a smile to my face thinking of the friends, people, places and activities that I used to enjoy.
I know that it isn’t healthy to “overindulge” or “dwell on the past” too much on the things of the past, but sometimes, when life gets hard, crazy, or hectic, it’s always nice to sit back and think of the special things that happened…when life was simple and pure.
So, if I could, I would love to go back and do some of these things…just one more time…
Stay outside until the street lights came on…which meant it was time to come home
Have bike races around the block with baseball cards flapping in my spokes which we thought made us sound like we were riding motorcycles
Hear the dinner bell ring…which called us all home for dinner
Listen to grandma calling all of our cats letting them know that their food was ready
Go Snapper fishing with my dad off the boat docks until sundown
Help my mom decorate her classroom and get it ready for her students
Play baseball and kickball with the kids in our neighborhood for hours each day
Build a tree fort in the trees in our backyard
Play and “Hide and Seek” in the woods and discover things around creeks and ponds
Save the world from evil and chaos as super heroes Batman (and my brother) Robin
Sit on my grandfather’s lap and listen to one more of his stories
Go sleigh riding down “Mueller’s Hill”, fly off the snow ramps and navigate around the obstacles that we made
Give my mom and dad one more hug
Visit neighbors with my brother and then enjoy the treats that they would give us
Have crabapple fights with the neighbors
Build sandcastles then making a big sand wall trying to prevent the incoming tide from destroying my fortress
Smell the aromas of the sausage and pepper sandwiches, homemade French fries, fresh cotton candy and pizza that that were always present at the boardwalk
Hear the sounds of the binging and ringing of bells, whistles and other noises emanating from the boardwalk arcades
Feel the sudden pull of the line on my pole as a fish got snagged on the hook and the excitement of the “fight”
Experience my heart “skipping a beat” as I asked a girl on the first date of my life
Watch my dad take portraits of people in his photography studio
Take a family vacation with my wife and two boys
Experience the excitement and magic of dating my wife then marrying her
Go to Yankee Stadium with friends
Stand on the rock jetty by the beach, watching fishing, luxury, and other boats come in
Go to college again
Play miniature golf during a beautiful summer night
Go to a family reunion
I could go on and list more things for hours…but the one thing that I wish that I could do….just one more time…if only for a moment…would be to TELL my mom, dad and grandma…how much I loved them…and thank them for all the love that they showed me.
Life is short. Take the time each and every day to enjoy the big AND small things. Appreciate and be thankful for all the people that are in your life and let them know how much they mean to you…before they are all gone.
My Good Time Stories 
It sounds like you’ve had a pretty good life. What great life experiences. I could ear Eddie Money singing, “I wanna go back and do it all over, but I can’t go back, I know.” He grew up in the 50s and probably has some of those same memories–although you weren’t alive then! And look, in just three months, you can STILL go play miniature golf on a beautiful summer night.
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Oh boy, does this sound like me…I just love dwelling in the past. Probably too much, but I guess it’s because today is just too fast paced and less personal than it used to be. We used to be outside all the time, playing with friends, seeing and hearing the sounds of the day going by. I loved it and would take it back in a minute! Do you know what I did the other night when I was up by myself? I went on google earth on my iPad and went to my addresses of my childhood homes just to see the old neighborhood and how it felt to go up the street. All the old neighbors houses and remembering times at this and that house. My parents have been gone for awhile now, so when I came to the front of one of my old houses…I tried to imagine my mom calling me from that front door for dinner. My dad cutting the grass out front and burning leaf piles by the curb. The same tree is in the front yard, only taller now. I even remembered that our houses were close enough to each other that at night in the summer, my sister and I would go to our window in our bedroom and call to our friends to come to their bedroom window…and we would talk, giggle and laugh. So much fun! I just love this post and completely understand as I am now 55 and 60 seems too close. Now that’s scary! Thank you for this post. Glad I am not alone!
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Hi Coach! I recently turned 50 and can so relate. I just posted about “A Time/Season” for everything…my dad recently passed, but even before that, I started receiving the AARP letters in the mail. Seeing this post confirms how much I/we need to embrace the present and not take things for granted. Thank you!
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