Once, when I was in high school (and into Junior College!) I worked part time at a rest home. As it was one of my first jobs, which I took pretty seriously, I wanted to be the best I could be. I really have respected my elders, when they told their stories.. It showed me the window of Life that was yet to come.... Didn't believe it could happen to me, but I am seeing signs.. When you're young, you think you get older like the people in the Poligrip ads; grey hair, perfect fake teeth that can eat corn on the cob, trim, all the Equipment working like when you were 20, very few wrinkles, still have all your buttons, etc... Well, it ain't! You don't "look" older- you get older!
Todays' question: No matter how old you may be right now, what do you miss about when you were younger?
Me first, as is the tradition!
I miss playing baseball.. The hot summer day, the milkweed in your teeth- waiting for someone to hit it to center field. The times I got to pitch (I'm a Lefty, and got to pitch alot!) The ice cream cone from Dairy Queen the coach would buy (win or lose!) after the game... And later in life playing slow-pitch softball for a heckofa good team... and later than that coaching my sons and other kids in tee-ball, coach-pitch Little League, buying them treats and hats from our own pockets.. because these fathers believed our kids should know how it works.. I wasn't the only guy that thought : We are teaching them more than a game, we are teaching them honor, respect, tradition- human traits that are important in living your life..
Field of Dreams" is a movie I would watch anytime- anywhere..
Anything you miss, but don't regret is the rule today! Think, remember- and have fun with this today!
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Going on camping trips with my dad. I can still hear his stories of how things were when he was a kid. They always seemed so magical.
Hiking up and down trout streams for hours on end. Jumping from one rock to the other, and never worring about how much it would hurt if I slipped and fell.
Playing football on the neighborhood streets and in friends yards. We'd play all summer long until it got so dark out we couldn't see. It seemed like the only time we'd take a break was to go in and get a bite to eat.
There are several others, but I don't want to hog up all the comment space.
Great question...great memories!
We had to be home "When the street lights came on".. 5 minute window, and God help you if you didn't make it.. You remember, my friend- just like I hope everyone does today...
I miss being able to eat as much sweets and ice cream as I wanted and not gain weight. As well as sleep like a rock any where I laid my head. The non-stress days, those were the days!
This is all good stuff, but please, please don't tell me this is one of those Little League/tee ball leagues where every kid gets a trophy, and no one is taught how to lose? IMHO, that is even more important than learning how to win well.
I miss drinking out of the garden hose. Wait, not that. . .
I miss eating Dinty Moore Beef Stew out of a can on camping trips to Yosemite. Wait, not that...
I miss the incredibly small local public library down the street from our house, and the unforgetably wonderful smell of all those books as you walked through the door, and the way the light came through the windows and illuminated the books on the shelves, and the summer reading contests. That's what I miss.
I miss my imagination. It sounds silly, but as an only child I could sit and play GI Joes and Star Wars all afternoon long.
Now, as an adult, I sit down to Barbies or animals with my kids and I run out of things to play in a few minutes. What is wrong with me?
jen- Remember when you were a kid, you actually had enough time to be bored?
Mr.N- No, it wasn't! Someday I'll post about the season I coached a tee ball team made up from all the kids that missed the sign-up deadline... We went 0-10...
romi- That library smell- you nailed a good one with that!
garbo- Welcome to the blog! The innocence we lose- how we used to play at simple things for hours...
I miss not having to worry about bills, cos Dad paid them!
I miss looking in the mirror and seeing a line free face. Did you know the reason God makes your eyesight fail is so that you won't see all the wrinkles on your face?
I miss being able to dance all night, every night and still get up the following morning without any aches or pains.
Oh I could go on but what's the point? I'm old and getting older so I'm going to make the most of it. Now then, where's me make-up?
You know I have been trying to narrow it down since this first went up...I could have been the first to comment I have way too many memories but I dont miss a thing. I once asked my grandfather when I was a little boy to tell me about the good ol' days and he said "these days - these are the good ol' days there is no past there is only right now!" So what do I miss? I missed the meteor shower a couple of days ago because it was too cloudy in NYC...
I commented awhile back about living 'in the moment' thats what we do around here....
I miss being able to eat anything anytime I wanted and still have a 24-inch waist.
And I miss having my entire life before me, full of hope and potential and not yet tainted by disappointments and what-ifs.
I miss a life free of responsibility...I never thought about finances, my weight, my health, my love life, my future...my biggest concern was how much pleading would it take for my mom to let me stay outside and play after dark. And the only thing scary about the dark then, was my own imagination.
I miss my Dad. That's it. He passed 11 years ago this month on Meg's 16 month old b-day. I don't miss my mom she made growing up miserable so that's why I don't miss my youth. She passed 21 years ago. She did teach me 'how not to raise children.' Lucky for Meg. She's gotta good Mum. Other than that we live for today too.
I miss my grandparents and how they used to spoil me.
I miss my free summers when I was in school. Boy did I ever take that for granted.
I can't remember the words of a poem a lady of considerable years told me (whilst I worked in a nursing home), but it was something about wearing a bright purple hat and more or less growing old a little disgracefully. When I was younger and heard this, I always had the nerve to say that will be me. Now I'm getting older I know I'm losing my bottle. Oh! that wonderful feeling of Bravado in youth!!!
Ake- Don't put that make-up on for me.. I bet you're grand the way you are!
DogB- Living in the moment is the first rule, but a memory of times gone that you enjoyed was what I was looking for...
Finn- Please don't miss stuff you might never have again, remember things you did have, and treasure..
Michelle- Nicely said! Fear when you were younger sometimes could be exhilarating but as you found out- harmless..
deb- So sorry your mom didn't live long enough to learn to be the mom you've become!
Casdok- I have always hoped someone spoiled you a little, Lord knows you have earned a little attention for yourself... Good to see you are alive!
Sully- Boy howdy! Did you nail that one! When was the last time someone gave you three months off from responsibility? What magic those summers were..
Queenie- I used to be invincible too! Life kicks that out of you- one day at a time, if you let it!
I miss not having any bad memories..when all was pure and golden....in fact I miss not having any memories...when all was pure and golden...time changes all of that...no matter what my grandfather always said whatever he was eating or doing at that moment was the BEST he had EVER eaten or done....thats my beautiful memory- thats what I miss.
I miss my innocence. Pure and simple.
DogB- Miss my grandfather too.. Always gruff, aways lookin' out for me..
har- I think that's why we enjoy kids at play- it helps us remember..
I miss my dad, my grandmother, my nanny and my cousins.But most of all I miss the times when siblings were together!
I miss school & my friends, the play fields & the games. I miss the singing & the drama club meetings & the literary society functions.
It is sad how far apart people drift from each other with the passage of time...
I miss my Senselessly Constructed House& my room within it!
I think, beyond being with my parents, my favorite time of my life was that crazy freedom after school.
I didn't live with my parents, I'd saved up my own money--gas was cheap and I could go and live and do whatever I wanted to. I lived out of my truck for about 6 months before I started to really run low on cash. Drove back and forth across the US two or three times (I'd been waiting tables for years and saved up a lot) Finally settled in Myrtle Beach and got a job washing dishes during Bike Week.
I really miss that ability to just throw it all in the back of my truck and go.
Mona- In reading your posts, I know that a great time you had- when you were with your siblings! Good memories- always air brushed, and sugar coated with the passing of time... The only thing time does well..
Tav or lini- The gypsy life? Wow! I never did that, but it has to be a great memory if you did!
cripes. as a child i miss not having to work and being carefree; not paranoid, or self-loathing, or...whatever comes with competing. in my 20's i miss my skin. and the small pant size.
Hey Uncle Buf,
I'm totally rebelling here, but honestly, spending time playing with my chilis and making their lives fun is what I am going to eventually miss. My childhood was not filled with a lot of happy and neither was the years after. I'm okay with that. Because now, I truly believe that I have given them more happier memories so far in their short little lives than I have combined in all 30-something of mine. Which is awesome, because now I'm in a place where I can truly cherish and appreciate everything I have, including the time I spend with them. We will all grow and stay close, but they will never be little again and I really want to take advantage of that now. The same goes for the time I spend with my family. I am so lucky that my parents are still young and if nothing tragic happens, we have lots and lots more years to spend together making family memories. So I guess I just don't miss much from my childhood. I'm just too busy embracing the now. ;)
However, I LOVED your baseball memory. I can totally see you as a little leaguer. :)
--snow
Tanya- I think I understand everything but the part about having no skin, and small pants... Boy, does that sound painful... Your Annoying Friend, The Buf :)
Snowniece- Always the loving Mom... I know it has been a fight to get where you are, but somewhere along the way you learned what would be right for your children- and you have done it!
I miss sightseeing with my Dad in exotic and foreign places. At the time I was too 'cool' to appreciate it, now I would kill for the chance again.
Good question. You make me feel very nostalgic.
I think I miss leisure time the most. I definitely miss Ohio and my parents. I miss playing kick ball and tag with my friends. I miss going to Youth Group at the church where I grew up. I miss roller skating several nights a week. Oh, I still take my kids roller skating every now and then but it's not the same. My legs are more wobbly and I'm so much older than almost everybody else that it's not as much fun. I miss catching lightning bugs in my dad's yard. I miss playing with my aunt's 13 or so cats. I miss water skiing on the Ohio River every summer with my dad.
Dragonflyness- My Dad, for 3 yrs. in a row took us on traveling vacations in the car- and I saw at least 30 states! Totally took it for granted at the time- but thank God I have a good memory..
Ashley- Welcome to the blog! Another writer visits my humble abode.. Thank-you. Your memories probably are alot like mine- a little air brushed and beautiful..
I can say with 100% complete honestly that the ONLY thing I miss about being young is living across the road from Beth and being able to see her ever single day.
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