A few random bits happened in the past week that have me in a nostalgic mood.
This past Friday, in the middle of a serious conversation, it briefly devolved into a discussion about dogs we have lost.
For Larisa and I, dogs are part of the family, not just pets. We have cats at the moment — definitely not the same thing. Our dog, Indy, has been gone for two years and I still miss her dearly. Dogs tend to single one person out as their favorite. I was hers.
We spent a lot of time together. She followed me everywhere, she slept at my feet and we went for walks often. She was adamant about going with me to take the recycle container down to the road. We also had long discussions about our mutual hatred of rabbits.
I really don’t hate rabbits, but I made it Indy’s job to keep them out of our yard. Any time we saw one in the yard, Indy sprang into action. She wasn’t good at it, but she tried. Yard rabbits are pretty nimble. It got to the point that I would yell at the yard rabbits for being in the yard and Indy for allowing it. Larisa thought I was nuts.
Two years later, our yard is overrun with frolicking rabbits. I still yell at them. Larisa still thinks I’m nuts. Who knew Indy was doing her job the whole time?
Cleaning out my laptop over the weekend, I stumbled on a misplaced folder named Ron. The folder was full of photos we accumulated to send to the funeral home for my father-in-law’s service.
One of them, a photo from the day my son won his Lilly Scholarship, is a picture of Ron and I clapping. I had no discernible emotion. Ron was full-on ugly crying. The pride and love for his grandson was too much for the stoic grandfather to contain. That photo still moves me, nearly 11 years later.
My nephew played his final basketball game last week. During the senior night festivities, my brother and sister-in-law looked so happy. Proud as they were, I’m not sure if they realized how big that moment really was.
I readily admit to not realizing the magnitude of those moments for my boys. Both of them were extremely active with sports and show choir. Each time we were involved in a senior night, I knew there would be another sooner or later. Until there wasn’t.
I wouldn’t trade my life now to go back to those days. Raising two athletes was organized chaos. They played different sports more often than not. I don’t have that kind of energy now but those are great memories to look back on fondly.
Reflecting on the things I miss has me thinking about creating new memories with the people I love the most.
When our boys were little we took a few overnight trips with Larisa’s parents. Those are treasured memories. We haven’t done anything that intentional since our oldest was a high school senior. He’s nearly 29 now.
I love feeling nostalgic. Looking backwards is great as long as it inspires me to look forward. I’m reminded about an analogy I’ve heard many times; the windshield is bigger than the rear view mirror for a reason, because what’s in front of you is more important than what’s behind you.
I am inspired. It’s way past time for Larisa and I to make a few new memories with our kids — and their girlfriends — before they are married and have kids of their own.
A famous line from the movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off sums up my current state of mind perfectly; “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”
Truer words were never spoken.
All thanks to a few random bits.
dougb@news-banner.com
