I woke up with Nostalgia

and still had a bit of Nostalgia at the end. You see, later throughout the day I thought about locking myself in the bathroom. Twice I thought that. I didn't though. I thought about it. That's the Nostalgia I ended the day with. :-)

But yet I will explain why I had that pleasant mood this morning, which made up for the rest of the day with two kids who were being kids, and one who had told me after the bath that she accidentally you-know-what in the bathtub when her and her brother just got in to get CLEAN, and then I washed her hair with that water and her brother, like always, found some way to have bath (bath?) water in his mouth and out again. Funny sounding to some, but to me....yes, it is. YES. I need to laugh at that because this day, although as trying as it was, went by with a blink.

Anyways, I went through some old photographs at my parents' house recently, and found a variety of things. My dad and I camping. Jr. High girlfriends and I at a sleepover. Church choir concerts. My mom beaming when my brother graduated from Mount Vernon. A few of my Grandpa and Grandma Duvall at one past Christmas. Charles Dickens (the Snyder family cat way back). The small jazz choir I was in, with two of my best high school friends. And, some even of my brother and his then girlfriend and fiance Lisa, who is his wife now.

However, one set of photographs set themselves apart for me. My grandparents had lived out in the country all the years that I remembered until about 3 years ago, when they became "city" folk. Crestview Road. What a grand place. I got stung by a bee on that road. Hiked the train tracks there, too. Had my first best friend on that road. Had my first "garden" in their backyard. Apple fights with the green and sour apple tree in the backyard. Just so many many memories that made me want to be there for just even a minute. I really miss that house, and the country air, and all that the house brought in my life. Not the house itself, of course, but who lived here, visited, grew....I miss it. It has quite changed since then. New owners. I can't imagine what it looks like now.

On to the photographs taken on that road, in the backyard of my grandparents' house. Rich received a handmade by me walking stick for Christmas that year (not sure what year it is right now). My grandpa went with me through their backwoods, and even over to the neighbors' backwoods to look for the perfect stick to alter. We hiked. Talked. Smiled. Prayed. I am so thankful for these four photos I have of this time. I'm making a small album with the whole why I made a hiking stick for Rich that year story (and honestly I cannot remember why I did! but I'll figure it out), and will give it to him for Father's Day. It's small, just right for his desk at work. My grandparents' are wearing wonderful smiles in that photograph. They still wear those wonderful smiles. God bless them.