Nostalgia Comes to Call

Do men start waxing nostalgic in middle age? Or is it really a desire to put right what feels as if it went terribly wrong so many years ago?

Not so long ago I had a message from an old friend. It simply clarified a friendship. We had been best friends for many years, but he had never told me so. I knew, of course, because some things in life are known deep within even if the words are never spoken out loud...

Last week I had a phone call from another old friend, more of an acquaintance actually. We'd known each other briefly as teens and met again several years ago at church before he passed out of my life again. He wasn't looking so much for me when he called as he was looking for another old friend, one he had fallen in love with as a very young man. Things had gone wrong when he'd expressed his devotion and she got scared and ran. All these years later he thinks of her, wants to express his apologies, and hopefully find himself forgiven... I didn't know what to tell him except that young girls get scared when they aren't ready for serious relationships, and that although she lives here in town, I haven't run into her in years.

Nostalgia is my middle name. I am perpetually nostalgic and often struggle to keep those thoughts and feelings from controlling my life and actions, so I found it curious that these two guys should be waxing nostalgic enough to make connections. Perhaps it is just a normal way of reflecting on our past and what makes us who we are today...