It is Alphabe Thursday hosted by Jenny Matlock once again...Click on the link on the sidebar to find out more....
This weeks letter is W and there are a whole lot of W' words to choose from. For some reason, I keep thinking of the word "wistful", so that is what I am going to write about...I think it is a beautiful word.
The definition of wistful is a sad longing for something lost. A yearning for things that were.
So have you ever watched a movie or a show that makes you feel wistful?
One of the ones that brings out that feeling in me is "Peggy Sue Got Married"
A comedy of sorts, which is a funny choice for a movie that makes you wistful, but she gets to go back in time.....She goes to a class reunion and has a fainting episode and wakes up as a teenager again but with her adult mind intact...Can you imagine?
This is where the wistful part comes in for me....There is a scene where she sees her Grandma and she knows in her adult life she has passed on and she grabs her and hugs her while crying....Oh, to go back and get a second chance to see ones loved ones lost....Who would you see? What would you say and do?
I would visit my great grandparents..Especially my great grandpa and ask him to tell me all his stories again...About when he came from France with no English and no family to start a life in America....I would still tape record it all but this time I would lock away the tapes so my sister couldn't tape over them....I would tell him how much his scrapbooks and his stories mean to me and that I know they will have a big impact in my life.
I would spend time with my middle school best friend...I would treasure every second giggling and hanging out....I would tell her to not ever ride in the back of trucks and to always wear a seat belt..I would take a zillion pictures of us together so later I would have pictures to remember...Especially from the night of our first real dance....
I would tell my two best grandmas in the world how much I love them and let them hug me as much as they wanted too...I would let my favorite grandma cook "hotcakes" for me and I would eat as much as she wanted to feed me...I would have my other grandma teach me to sew..I would bask myself in their love.
And last of all, My mom! To look at her in a child's body with adult eyes...I would try to figure out the mystery of her...Who she is as a woman while at the same time I would memorize every second...The smell of her, her expressions, the touch of her hand...The love she felt for me, her firstborn..I would wrap it all up, tie it up with a bow and open it when I didn't have her anymore and just breathe it in.
This is wistfulness at its best.....
What makes you feel wistful?
23 comments:
I think the only thing I ever felt that way about was a boy friend at age 15...it took me years to get over him but when I met my Ron it all vanished! Come say hi :D
i feel wistful when i think of my girls growing up and away from me :D
My sweet mother who I miss so much...oh dear, you made me cry on a Thursday in the middle of the day!
Incredibly beautiful post.....
Oh my, I would spend time with my grandpa, he loved to spin a good yarn, and with my grandma also who loved to play boggle with me! I would also scope out my husband in years before I met him!!! That one's just for fun though.
I would visit myself and tell myself to try have more fun - I suppose not many of us has nice childhood to look back on
great W for alphabe-thursday
This is a wonderful and thought provoking post. I would visit my grandparents, who raised me and died way too young. Thanks for this lovely post.
I would spend more time with my grandmothers and learn more about my biological grandfather who was known to me as "Uncle Mike" a hired hand. I would have more patience, and be a little be nicer to some people in junior high, I would realize just how smart and creative I was in high school.
Love to stop in and visit...I have a wistful feeling every year I travel to 4-H Camp and spend time with kids. I just enjoy every moment:)
This post!! Especially the part about the grandmas, and I would love to go back and see my mom taking care of me as an infant and small child.
Loved it. You struck a chord with this one.
=)
Beautifully stated with heartfelt warmth! I took in every word and traveled with you back in time. I'm glad that you visited my blog because now I can look forward to visiting yours.
I would probably want to see my grandparents. I knew them but never really knew much about their childhood's and how they were raised. My mom tells me stuff but I'm not sure how much she remembers is correct.
I would like to spend as much time with my dad as possible, and have his hugs again.
Wistful today is wishing I could sit on the front porch with my mom and laugh at the stories she used to tell me!
What a thought-provoking post! i would love to have the chance to go back in time and learn more about my ancestors too! And would love to spend and enjoy every minute I could with my mom...how awesome to hear her voice and hang out more and do things with her...to see how she was as a little girl :o)
Blessings & Aloha!
I appreciate your W post!
I felt wistful just reading this! So many little things, everday, bring on those moments of memory for those you've lost.
I just sent you two Bloggy Awards.
Check out my post. http://permanentposies.com/?p=613
What a wonderful word linking to Alphabe-Thursday's letter "W".
That emotion is such a tough one. Regret is always hard to deal with.
Melinda, you could write the story of how you think those conversations and observances would have gone. Sometimes that can help give you closure. And in the writing you might find you remember more than you thought!
Thank you for linking.
I always love my wonderful visits here!
A+
I never really knew 3 of my grandparents but I would definitely spend more time with my grandpa who died when I was a teenager - too busy to visit him often.
Another great post---I want my Daddy.
Wonderful W post! I'd like to talk to my maternal grandmother. Wouldn't that be nice? I'd record all of her wonderful stories! I'd also ask more questions!
what a beautiful post ... made me all teary eyed and now i have rushing memories of the special people i would love to see again ... my grandma's and grandpa's ... a special friend ... and so many others ... think i will grab a cup of tea and remember good people ...
what a lovely post. My mom and I aren't close so my wistful moments are usually wrapped up in 'what ifs' wondering what it would be like to have a wonderful relationship with her. Each year at Mother's Day I stand in front of the card isle and just stare because none of them fit.
I know that I WOULD spend as much time as possible with my grandmother b/c I didn't know her well and I really wish I did.
Wednesday, June 30th, 2010
Dear Melinda,
I have read every word of this post -- and it has made me so weepy and teary-eyed that I can hardly see to type this. If I could go back in time... If I could... I would be hugging all of my family-members and asking them to tell me things. I would be telling them how much I love them. I would be writing letters like mad to relatives that live far away so that they would have those letters to read. I would say things that I never dare to say.
But maybe I would mess up the scheme of things...
Have you ever seen the third Harry Potter film 'The Prisoner of Azkaban'?? Read the novel if you can, but even the film is very, very good, actor Daniel Radcliff's favourite. Hermione Granger has a little gadget called a 'time-turner' that allows one to travel in time. But she only uses it to go back in time a few hours. In the book and the film there is some discussion about the dangers of going back in time.
Still...
I would love to see my father again, all of my grandparents and various other people that are no longer among the living.
I need to blow my nose!
Best wishes,
Anna
P.S.
Thanks for stopping by my W-post. I was on my way to your 'U'-post and was caught of guard by the word 'Wistful'. There is a similar word in Swedish, 'Langtan' (the 'a' has an omlaut), a word that can make any Swede shed buckets of tears!
P.P.S.
I agree with Mrs. Matlock that you should try writing a story about and see where it takes you. But a far a 'closure' is concerned. I personally don't want to put a lid on my memories. But if there are lessons to be learned. Problem is that many 'lessons' in life only apply to specific situations and are not always applicable when it comes to newer events.
Wonderful post!!
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