This evening I walked out onto my front doorstep and saw a car idling in the middle of the street in front of my house. My dad was standing outside the car, talking to the driver through the window. A girl with curly hair looked at me from the passenger seat. I went over to my dad and looked at the woman driver and the girl passenger for a few seconds in confusion. I knew they looked familiar, but I couldn't place when and where I had seen them. As my dad's talk about the time that has past and the changes that have occurred fizzled down, I asked the lady if I knew her. She told me that I was little when she met me, but that she sold our house to us ten years ago. Immediately the two faces fell into place. I remember moving into the house when I was nine years old, my family taking the place of a divorced mother, her smoker sister, and seven year old daughter. Ten years later, the mother and daughter decide to return, if only a brief minute to meddle in the nostalgia of their life here.
Nostalgia happens everyday, at least to most people..I think. Sometimes it's just a brief memory of a moment that you can connect to the present, but other times it is an overwhelming feeling. It's happens while in a place where a handful of memories were made, but also a place where you don't quite belong anymore. Smelling an aroma that evokes a memory that you can't always place...or seeing an old friend and talking about old times. It seems to me that Nostalgia is a misfitted emotion, not always welcome...people seem uncomfortable with it. Talk about the past to a friend who wasn't there to share it with you, and they will be disconnected, sometimes even apathetic. The present is a gift, shared by all around you, and taken lightly. The future is a distant shadow, where all of us share in the uncertainty. The past, however, is a personal collection of memories. A library of unique experiences, some bad..some good. It's hard to talk about sometimes. That's why I have decided to write this blog.
I am about to embark on my second year of college in a mere week. My major is Human, Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise..a hefty title for a hefty major. When I started last year, I was overwhelmed with my course load of core science classes and the demanding expectations of the various graduate level health professional schools. I adopted the mentality of chugging along and not looking back. Now that a year has past and year two is beginning, I think it's a good mentality to have. Taking my life one day at a time: tackling the tasks at hand and eliminating all other distractions is what I need to do to get through. However, Nostalgia hits me every day and I desperately feel the need to share it...but with whom, I seldom know. That's where you come in. Thanks, blog and whoever finds themselves reading this for the opportunity to reflect.
So, as to be expected with the distant shadow of the future, I don't know how much I'll update this thing. Probably not too much while I'm in school...however I think it could be a great stress therapy...so who knows, you might be hearing from me quite frequently.
Until then, keep your memories safe in your heart!
Kiley
