For some reason, my sister has been watching old home videos in our basement recently. I decided to have lunch down there to join along, and spend some quality time with the dog in a place he’s not usually allowed (boy was he excited to go to the basement!).

The videos were from when I was 10 years old. It’s interesting to see how my memory of certain things and people align with evidencial video. 

There was one bit from my 10th birthday celebration at High Rollers, a (great) indoors skating rink nearby. Seating next to me during the gift exchange were my childhood neighbor and my brother, both of who I still see frequently. Interestingly, everyone else in the video (save relatives) has gained distance from me and my life. Friends that have grown apart juxtaposed with friends that, despite trying, no longer find the time to get together. 

Nostalgia sets in. It’s sad. It’s happy. I miss these people. No, I miss these people when they were 10. I miss being 10. I miss sitting next to you in 2nd grade, when very little mattered save for when you’d next let me use your covetted eraser. 

As I grow older and assume greater responisibilities, I’ll never stop striving for the simplicities that were readily accesible second natures as a 10 year old. I want to be a child when I grow up.