To be honest, when I came back to visit my relatives in small town in Central Russia and saw our first flat, crossed the park where we played when we were little, my heart was ready to jump out :))
Have you ever felt Nostalgia? Do you think that it is not wise to miss past?
Of course Sarah one can feel nostalgic of past times and situations. One of my siblings just sent me this morning an old picture of us when we were little, he scanned the photo. Looking at it, I felt some bittersweet tenderness for us, seeing the building where we lived, the garden and our faces, we were so small and vulnerable!
Nostalgia reminds us of past moments but of course one shouldn’t stick to it all the time, otherwise one risks to become melancholic and sad and not enjoying anymore his present life.
Hello Sarah.
I've probably never missed my home town, because I have moved only about 20 km from it and I still work in the town of my childhood, but I had similar experience regarding my grandma's house.
A few years ago I went with my son to the town I used to live in, to show him a few places which were important to me. We've started with the block of flats where I spent my teenage years, then we went to see my old elementary school and high school. In the end we went to see my grandma's house. My grandma was over 90 years old that time and she lived already in my aunt's flat for a few years. So the house was supposed to be empty for a few years (my mother and aunt hesitated for a long time if they should sell it out or not). On that day, while we approached the house we saw a man standing behind the gate and starring at us. When I explained the purpose of my visit (that I only wanted to show my son where I used to live for a short period), he told us that he just bought the house a month earlier.
I don't know... maybe my mother or my aunt told me they were about to sell the house and I was too busy to notice it. But I felt a bit surprised with the fact it has happened already. I had a lot of nice memories concerned with this house (I've spent there almost every weekend of my youth). I know that was stupid, but when we went some distance away from the house I started to cry. I felt like an important part of my life has ended...
Thank you Marcin. I appreciate that you tell this story. It really touches heart..
Thank you Aliph, for your encouraging words. I think you are right, it is not good to be focused only on past..we need to do something for the future too..But when I read a story of Marcin..I feel I am ready to cry only reading what he wrote..
I think nostalgia is a natural feeling, and unless it makes you sad it's something to embrace. I love strolling the neighborhood where I used to live when I was a child.
I still have dreams of my old home there, wherein I sometimes just ring the doorbell and ask for a chance to come inside and see how the apartment looks these days. I don't wake up sad though, just... feeling nostalgic.
