I recently read
something on the internet, but I can’t remember where. It asked the question “Do you ever get
homesick for a place that no longer exists?”
Not much to my surprise, the rhetorical question became firmly embedded
in my mind’s eye where it has remained ever since.
Pierini Fitness is a reflective guy, so the question allowed my reflective being to thrive in full throttle. Here are some of my rambling reflections when thinking about this question:
Watching the “Adventures of Superman” on our black and white television set, knowing that I would was a sure bet.
Playing outdoors with friends, and riding my bicycle here and there, never afraid that bad people would surface and give me a scare.
Swimming at the YMCA after school and jumping off the high dive, were healthy activities making my boyhood thrive,
Going to the Memorial Auditorium to watch Big Time Wrestling matches cheering for the good guys, and booing the bad guys,
Working after school and summer jobs to save for my first car, then depositing my earnings in the bank and not a cookie jar,
Joining the Army, surviving boot camp and making friends from everywhere, and being confident as a young man to accept a dare.
Meeting my future wife and dancing with her on a warm summer night, knowing she would be my bride, not anyone else in sight.
Becoming a father to a daughter and then a son and discovering that it was a lot of fun.
Starting my career in a profession that’s challenging and rewarding, forty years later it’s only a memory that surfaces when I’m sleeping,
Family vacations
to Europe with my wife and children, all excited as can be, with our eyes wide
open, there was so much to see.
Now an old man, I’m living new experiences that’ll one day be dear, but will they be as good as the ones from yesteryear.
So, my answer is yes to the question, “Do I ever get homesick for a place that no longer exists?”
Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum
