Nostalgia

If you have been reading you know that Lisa went back to wintery Northern VA last weekend to attend the WATCH awards ceremony. While she was there she stayed with Grant and Miranda and the boys, visited the old house, the tenant and the next-door neighbour, did some shopping and had lunch at the Silver Diner. She also went by Emily's old school to speak to the kids in Drama Club about "Seussical the Musical" and visited Emily's old classroom, where she was treated like a rock-star. She is feeling very nostalgic.

Emily is also getting ready for her Spring Break trip back to VA and has started looking forward to all the things she misses. She loves school here - but has had a lot to say in the past few days about her old school and old friends. She is feeling very nostalgic.

It started Lisa thinking about nostalgia. The dictionary defines nostalgia as, "a bittersweet longing for things, persons, or situations of the past." What do you think "bittersweet" means in the context of that definition? Does it mean bitter because you don't have it anymore but sweet because the memory is there? Does it mean a sweet memory but you are bitter because you are longing for it? Or does it mean bitter memories but a sweet longing, because it is safe to long for things you know you won't go back for? Or are we thinking too much?

The things that are missed about "home" (yes - "there" is still home, "here" is still becoming) are often the things we most wanted to get away from. Like casual abundance. As soon as Lisa landed at the airport everything that she had been wanting to buy for the last few weeks but couldn't (either because we couldn't find it or it was too expensive) was just steps away. And she hadn't even left the airport yet. Like cleanliness. We used to joke about our neighbourhood resembling a movie set from the "Stepford Wives". It looked lovely last weekend. Like Emily's old school (the amount of homework and the misbehaving students). Although Emily's new school is much better for her and she really loves it, Lisa did get a bit emotional when she walked in to Emily's old classroom. They really miss her and it is so obvious.

Anyway - nostalgia is a natural part of such a big move. Lisa remembers feeling nostalgic for her life in England after moving to the States - but it so glad to have stayed in the US. Mark feels nostalgic for Scotland all the time - especially when Dundee is winning - but would never move back. We have made a long-considered and well thought out move, and it is definitely for the best. Maybe we can dissect the dictionary definition a little and just focus on enjoying the "sweet longing".