Everyone Is Entitled To My Opinion- On Homesickness
by Paul Big Bear
Have you ever felt homesick? Do you find thoughts of the house you grew up in filling your mind? Do these thoughts take you back to a specific time; are you revisiting a special moment and special people? Do these thoughts and dreams seem real or fragmented pieces of an undoable puzzle, jumping from place to place, person to person, even situation to situation? So often I find my thoughts, dreams revisiting a special place; my grandmother’s kitchen, the fishing hole with Joe Venice early in the morning catching bullhead for breakfast.
Lying on a blanket at the drive in movies eating popcorn and hot dogs, maybe you conjure up memories of a big holiday meal with the entire family gathered around the table to eat and laugh before settling in to watch a holiday special on TV. How real do these thoughts become, can you smell the food cooking, perhaps leaves burning or logs in the fireplace warming the house. Are you visiting the old neighborhood or old friends, maybe an early love and a special night of laughter.
What is “Home sickness?” Do you ever share these special memories with anyone and if you do, do they share their homesick memories with you? Are these thoughts more prevalent during the holidays or certain seasons? When you are feeling ill or run down do you yearn for the past, a healing time with hot soup, warm “jammies”, soothing drinks and special meals, and the people who cared for you as you healed Mom, grandma, siblings?
Do you find it comforting to revisit times with friends and family no longer with us? Do you hear their voice, feel their touch, perhaps you are able to smell something that was unique to them; aftershave, perfume, the smell of a shave and a haircut. I enjoy the memories that make me homesick; perhaps it should be called home happiness, now about those dreams in which I am able to fly.