Nostalgia

This summer I have been delighting in nostalgia! I don't know if it's my age (46) or the fact that my kids are getting older (a senior and a middle schooler!), but I have just found myself enjoying looking back on the past.

One time I happened to click on a picture of an old toy on Instagram and now my feed keeps showing me pictures of objects from the 80s. And I absolutely love it. I just look at the pictures in amazement and think, "Yes! Ye-es, I remember having/playing with that!" And then I send a screenshot of it to my sister because the joy felt from looking at a Rose Petal doll you had in third grade is meant to be shared.  

For example, recently I have been overcome with sentiment at seeing...

these coasters, which my mom or my grandma or someone in our family had. My sister and I couldn't remember who.

Or...

this Puffalump doll, which was made of a weird windbreaker-type of fabric, and as my sister pointed out, was not actually puffy at all, but just limply stuffed. But would you just look at that? We had those!

Or...

these glitter bracelets, which I probably tossed into a jewelry box and forgot about after one wearing, but I could almost shed a tear looking at them!

You might remember that at the beginning of the summer, I had tracked down and read a book I remembered loving as a kid. I was also recently reminded of my first concert: Phil Collins and Genesis in 1992 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. I was twelve years old and while my friends were going to see New Kids on the Block, I was super pumped to see an 80s progressive pop band with a crowd of middle-aged fans, and then proudly rock a t-shirt like this (which I can apparently buy on eBay for $150!):

 

I decided to do a deep dive of Phil Collins and Genesis and not just listen to the hits, but whole albums. I'm happy to say that the music still holds up. Well, for me, at least. Margaret recently mentioned the "weird, old music" I have been listening to in the car, and when I pressed her to admit that Phil Collins is amazing, she replied, "He's fine, I guess." Sophie also categorically stated that, "This music is not even good" as I serenaded her in the bathroom with Genesis's "Throwing It All Away." I'm sorry that they have bad taste, but I am going to continue reveling in my nostalgic music!

Just this morning as I was running in the neighborhood, I heard an unmistakable rumble, and then I saw it coming: a Big Wheel! A little boy was riding a faded yellow and red Big Wheel, just like the ones we had in my neighborhood that we rode up and down the street until the plastic wheels cracked. He was followed by what I assume was his grandpa, who called out to me, "Check out the Big Wheel!" 

"I know! I had one just like it when I was a kid!" And we both smiled at the thought of it.