I have been thinking a lot lately about things that I miss now that I am an “adult”. I suppose with our oldest son’s 34th birthday coming up next week and my own 59th birthday the following week I am feeling a bit nostalgic or something.

The first thing that I have to say that I miss is just being able to pick up the phone and talk to my parents. My Daddy died in 1994 so it has been a long time since I had that chance but up until just about a year ago I was at least able to call my mom regularly. With her increasing dementia it is difficult to carry on conversations in person let alone on the phone. I was especially feeling the loss lately when Chris’s brother died. My first thought was to call my mom and cry on the phone with her but I knew she wouldn’t remember him and it made me even sadder. When I did see her that week I opted not to even mention anything about why we were in Ohio. There is no way I can share any of those types of things with her anymore.

I miss the sticky arms and faces of my two boys as they hug me. I love my grown up men more than I can tell you but honestly – those younger versions of themselves were pretty darn wonderful and there are days that I miss my shadow Aaron and my competitive Micah in their younger forms.

I miss “family work weekends”. In our earlier married years my siblings and I shared weekends at our houses where we helped each other with projects. Probably my most memorable weekend was when we bought our house in Monaca, Pennsylvania that needed quite a bit of work. We rented a dumpster, invited the family and proceeded to rip up black carpet, peel off wallpaper and pretty much wreck havoc on the inside of this house. All the little kids were included and it was fun for the siblings, spouses and cousins and we actually got a lot accomplished when we did these. Family is the best.

I miss road trips in our big Ford Econoline Conversion van complete with the boys in the captains chairs in the back watching videos and playing Nintendo. I miss getting ready for those epic road trips by finding the perfect little presents to pack to surprise them with when they got in the van for the trip.

I miss my Grandma Bonnie’s cooking and especially her pies. She was THE best cook and cooked with love in every dish. I miss sitting around her big kitchen table with the family taking it all in and just being together with family.

Now please don’t misunderstand — I LOVE my life and my current situation even if it is stressful sometimes as an adult. But there are always things in my memory that come to the surface that remind me that I have had a full life and that includes those things that I listed above. But how blessed am I to have things that I actually miss instead of having no memories of happiness to draw upon like some folks experience?

Thanks for joining me today on my nostalgic trip. Do you have specific things that you can share with me of things that you miss? I would love to hear all about it so please share in the comments section. Each comment this month means a 50 cent donation to Comments for a Cause – Camp Robin Rogers. You can read more about that by clicking here.