Nostalgia…

For some random reason I found myself browsing google maps today. It has be 5,718 days since I’ve legally been a resident in Western Oregon. Before that I was a resident in Eastern Oregon. It’s been longer since I’ve visited. Roughly 16 years I would say. I moved to Western Oregon just after I started the third grade. I had been in school maybe a couple of weeks. My mom told us that we would be visiting my dad for a little while. She came back roughly two months later from what I remember, though to be honest I was only 8 so who knows how distorted my memories are. By this time My sister and I decided that we wanted to stay, though to be honest I probably didn’t care either way as long as I was with my big sister. I adored her and looked up to her. Who needed a super hero as a role model when I had a big sister! Memories from my youth have been flowing back into my mind recently. Memories I had once forgotten now seem so clear. As I browsed my old hometown nostalgia filled my senses. It’s funny how just seeing a street name can refresh multiple memories. And yet.. everything appeared so much smaller than I remembered. It’s been almost 16 years and 280 something miles… I can’t even imagine how much the town has changed. Yet, I must wonder what kind of memories I would regain if I even caught a glimpse of that old town. How much would I remember? And is it worth it to remember? The good with the bad… I find myself amazed at the learning experience it could be. All of my senses would come alive as I walked exactly where I did as a child. The people that I imagine are still children, though they are all my age now. I still see little faces and expressions … I wonder who they are now, who they have become, what they are like, what they are doing. Heaven knows I wouldn’t recognize them. Hmmm…pure nostalgia.