Memory Lane

 As we get older, we get nostalgic.  It's not that the "old days" were better (they probably were not), but, more likely, the accumulated memories remind us that we've had a life of interest and association.  Our worlds start getting smaller with passing time as we no longer rush into the workplace to meet the daily challenges, so the memories of all those interactions and associations, good or bad, take on a different kind of importance.

We seem to know when it's time to make an overture into the past, when it is time to seek out those few in our lives who impacted us in such a way that we don't forget.  We think of them fondly (or maybe not so fondly, in some cases) and the desire to stay validated in a changing world is worth the strain of finding the ones we liked and connected well with in more harried times.

I've sought out "old friends" a number of times in the last five years.  It's always been a pleasure to hear from them.  Sometimes they turned out to be completely as I remembered, and other times, my memory did not serve me so well. But in every case, the reconnection reminded me of a time in life when important things were going on for me - different important things than are happening now - and, in each case, the trip down memory lane was a treat.