Last night I was struggling with a bad case of
nostalgia. Joey had to go back to
college, Maddie is in Africa, and I was missing my mom who passed away two
years ago. Plus, living in Florida, I was begrudging the fact that it was 80 degrees
in January and not snowing. I felt
like Uncle Rico from Napoleon Dynamite, craving a time machine to go back and
relive the past. However, with no
time machine in my possession, I did the next best thing. I pulled out some old home movies and
watched them with Sophia and Dominic.
It’s funny, seeing how things were brings a heavy dose of
reality. For example, every snowy winter would bring the kids at least two
bouts with the flu. I listened to
an old sermon I had preached. I was ready to crawl under a rock. I think I
preached a two-hour message in about 25 minutes. After15 years, I have learned to pace my speaking.
I even watched my wedding video. It showed how far Gina and
I have come. Our wedding AND
reception cost about $500. That
included a gym with wooden chairs, a cassette player that played a friend’s mix
tape, a chocolate fountain that had homemade punch flowing out of it and a
friend shooting our wedding pictures and video. My tech-savvy son was horrified by the video work and
editing. He didn’t think the video
was even 5 pixels.
Here is what I came to grips with:
1-
I have been blessed with great family and
friends.
2-
It’s alright to peak in the rear view mirror
every once in a while, but there is still a lot going on out of my front
windshield. Don’t get stuck in the
past.
3-
Appreciate the lessons learned back then, apply
them now, and enjoy the fruit of lessons learned.
4-
Things weren’t as great as I remember them. Every phase of life brings its
challenges.
5-
Palm trees in January isn’t necessarily be a bad
thing.
