Remember When

Do you ever sit and think about how life used to be? How much life has changed, not just over the pandemic, but just over the period of when you were a child to now. Life was slower, things seemed to mean more to people than they do now. I can remember my grandmother walking everyday to meet me outside of the school to walk me back to her house to wait for my parents to pick me up. We would stop at the old five and dime, and to this day I can still remember the way it smelled. I can remember the squeak in some of the old wooden boards on the floor and the little bell above the door. She would have a couple nickels for me to get penny candy and we would talk to the gentleman at the counter for a few minutes everyday before we left. On Friday's we would stop at the pet store and look at the fish and the turtles and if we were lucky they might have a puppy to cuddle. I cherished those moments and to this day will never forget how much her time meant to me. Nothing was rushed.

I can remember when we took the time for conversations, and relationships were important. I believe that certain conversations still deserve to be had face to face and not behind a screen and I instill this thought process in my children. My son's first heart break for instance. They were going to be graduating and going different paths, and he knew deep down it just wasn't going to withstand what was coming. My advise to him was to have the conversation with her face to face because she deserved it. He did and when he came back in he was crying and said that it was the hardest thing he had ever done. In my eye's, it allowed him to see how his actions and words affect someone else. It allowed him to understand that people have real emotions and not just emoji's. There are many times we would just rather text or email, send it and forget it. But we are missing the fact that the other person doesn't just read it and forget it, they read it and feel it.

I can remember the old A&W restaurant we had in town. You'd pull up to the drive in and order and the girls would bring your food with a tray that attached to the window. It was just as cool to eat inside as we thought hearing the songs we picked on the juke box was just amazing. We probably arrived there in the back of my parents station wagon, seats laid down and sprawled out in the back with our friends. We would go after church sometimes with groups of people. All the while knowing when you were done, you'd be going home so dad could nap and you could play for a few hours before you went back for evening service.

I can remember playing outside everyday when it was nice, which is something my children do. I can remember when my sister and I would have to be home when the street lights came on and feeling like rebels if we were fifteen minutes late. We'd get a shower and grab a pudding pop and head back outside to sit on the porch swing. We would talk and laugh and just be. We'd catch up on who was doing what and then get mad if some had picked on the other. I can remember at times sitting and playing the game operation and being scared to death when it would vibrate. We had no worries, no cares. We have to show or children how important those moments are. I want so badly at times to just slow down. I want those moments when the little things meant so much. I want to see people having conversations. I want so badly to see families coming home to do things, take care of things, and not sitting on either end of the couch with a phone shoved between their faces, while no words are spoken.

I remember hearing my dad pray over every meal we had, and being genuinely thankful that we had all that we did. We take so much for granted and forget to be thankful. We gossip about people instead of having conversations with them to try to understand why they are who they are. We hold grudges instead of hashing out our problems. There are people out there that will spread lies like gasoline on a fire, and feel no guilt for doing so. There is so much hate from people when you don't have the same views. I wonder so many times what has happened to us, all the while just sitting and remembering when.