Memories

So last week while Ivan was out of town and I was still pretty drained from my recent hospital stay, my boys and I spent a couple of days at my parents' house. It was strange. Not my parents - they are great and it was wonderful to hand off the kids to my little brother and sister and let them all run around together. (Every toddler needs a teenager to hang out with and vice versa.) And we've spent nights at my parent's before, but this was the first time that we stayed in my old room.
So there I was, staring up at the same light fixture that I stared up at all through Jr. High and High School, with my children snoring lightly on a mattress on the floor. It was a little surreal. I never imagined then that I would be where I am now, but I know I never imagined anything better. I don't really feel like I am a different person now than I was then. If anything, I'm more me somehow. I was too worried about what other people would think of me to really be myself back then. And I keep saying "back then" like it was so long ago. It wasn't, but so much has happened, it feels like a long time. The last time I slept in that room was the night before my wedding. (Hmmm, I was missing John then too. I'm sensing a pattern.)
Part of me was waiting for my sister to come wake me up for scripture study and school. It brought back a lot of memories of what I felt when I lived there - not really any specific experiences, so it was a lot of things I hadn't thought about for a while.
It was interesting and I recommend trying it sometime; if you still can, and if the stay is only temporary.
And I'm wondering something I have not thought about in years: "What happened to my teddy bear?"