Past Came Calling Today

I talked with someone today ... someone from long ago ... let's call this person "Past".  Memories came flooding back.  Past was part of my life when I was a teenager... Past and I have not talked since then.  Our lives have been busy,  marriage, children, work, deaths of loved ones.  One would think that so much has happened that the past would seem distant.  Yet, when we talked it seemed like only yesterday - all those memories of who we were.

Strange to realize that I am still that same person - older, not much wiser, but still so much the same.  I used to think at some point in life I would "become" who I was meant to be.   Not gonna happen.  Who I was is who I am and who I will always be.  Imagine that.

The people and events in our past are part of who we are.  Past helped me remember that today.
It feels good to remember things we haven't thought about in such a long time.  Happy times... fun times... even the hard times.  The way we were... the way we are.






 

The Way It Was

I'm thinking about how it used to be. Does that mean I'm getting old? Or just that life really was innocent and good when I grew up?

Hard work in tobacco fields.

Delicious meals cooked by Mom, no matter how busy she was.

Fresh strawberries raised close to our house.

Picking wild blackberries - eating the pies Mom made.

Playing with my cousins til dark - catching lightning bugs in jars.

Knowing without a doubt that I was loved.

Three brothers - one who loved to torture us with his temper, one who was the peacemaker, and one who was the baby of the family - more than a little spoiled.

My mom made the best yeast rolls I've ever tasted - and she made them often.

Christmas = tangerines, oranges, apples, candy as well as toys. I still remember Christmas when I smell a tangerine.

Lewis Miller's store - going there on rainy days when my dad couldn't work.

My mom on her Ford tractor.

First trip to the beach - the ocean was so big and so loud!

Things we didn't have and I didn't miss: Cell phones, Ipods, huge tv's, malls, computers (I am glad we have them now). Seems like we had more time.

Remembering Vietnam...

I never know what triggers the memories. Memories of my 20 year old husband leaving for Vietnam. Memories of him returning home wounded in his body and soul. Struggling to return to his life - our life. His nightmares. His injuries. His courage. He never complained, he just put his mind to living his life. He has never talked about Vietnam except a few times with others who were there. It is hard to believe how young we were and how hard it was. He is good and brave and strong. I think the hardest part for him was having so many friends who didn't come home. I think of them often - I can only imagine how often he thinks of them. I didn't know them, but they touched my life - they gave their lives for our freedom. I hope each of us will say "Thank you" to the next soldier we meet.