“Nostalgia…”

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Shared by Breanne Smedley

This past week vacationing with my family on Whidbey Island has been a perfect combination of relaxation, productivity, reconnection with friends, adventure, good food, and fitness.

And of course a touch of the bickering that comes with adjusting to vacation life and being around each other 24/7. It wouldn’t be a vacation without it, right?!

Brett and I used to live on Whidbey Island, which makes it a really special place for us to visit every year.

It’s the first place we lived together after we got married.

It was where I got my first teaching and head coaching job.

It’s where we met lifelong friends that we still keep in contact with.

Where Brett really fell in love with fishing.

Whenever we come back, a flood of memories comes back as well.

We drive past the first house we lived in together.

A 540 square foot bungalow right on the beach.

As we drive by, memories of fishing and crabbing out of our kayak and watching the sun set over the water every night come rushing back.

We stop and see our old neighbor, Nancy, a 70-something (three-time!) widow who gives us her normal offering of sprite and cookies as we catch up.

We then drive by the first house we purchased together and comment on the updates.

“Oh, they put in a fence. Nice, we were planning to do that!”

Then, to the schools that we used to teach and coach at.

Memories of opening the gym door to smiling elementary students both terrifies me and warms my heart.

I go back to the 5am class at the first CrossFit gym I was a part of and visit my favorite coffee shop after.

The same smiling barista was even there from 4 years ago when this was my normal routine.

This morning, as I was hiking my favorite trail on the Island with Charlee on my shoulders, it hit me again.

I looked over the water of Ebey’s landing bluff. The Cascade mountain range stood tall behind me, and the Olympic mountain range was spread in front of me.

Views that used to be part of my everyday life.

I felt a pang in my heart that I’ve been feeling over and over the past week.

Nostalgia.

Longing for the memories and life we had when we lived here.

Happy memories from that stage in our lives.

A mixture of joy and sadness that we are no longer living that same life anymore.

I can’t tell if nostalgia is a good or bad feeling.

So, I’m going with good.

It means we’ve lived a good life so far.

Good enough for me to miss.

Along with a reminder to appreciate the past, but stay present.

Because these days are so good too.

Ones that I know we will look back on with nostalgia someday.

If we live and love the only way we truly can.

In the present moment.

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