Nostalgia

Once upon a time there lived a little girl.
And the little girl was happy.
For what was there to be unhappy about...
And although she didn't have many things, she was content.
All she knew was her little world of family, school, friends and play.
Life was good.
Sweet.
Full hot summers and baseball games.

But the little girl grew up.
And things changed...


...................



It happens to me every time.
Whether it's looking through a box of childhood pictures.
Or reading an old letter from a friend.
Or flipping through a yearbook filled with scribbled notes from classmates...

It takes me on that not-so-often traveled road down memory lane.
And suddenly I have the overwhelming urge to call everyone.
My old classmates.
Buddies.
Cousins.

Hi!
How are you?
How's life?
Remember me?
Remember us?

I want to talk to you like we're in our pj's reading books in bed in your house when I came to sleep over for shabbos.

I want it to be like we're back in school eating hot lunch on the grass.

Like we're on the bus on the way to Arizona to hike the grand canyon.

Like we're running down the street all bundled up and laughing the night of the first snow storm in NY.

Young and innocent.
Trusting.
Refreshingly simple.

I wish we could pick up where we left off.

Last time we got together I had somehow forgotten.
I got distracted by things that seemed different about you.
I forgot that under that new haircut it was still you.

I wish we could just go back to the way it was...
When things were simple.
When did we become so sophisticated?
So complicated?
So important?

Hi.
Remember?
It's just me.

I'm still that little girl.