Memory Lane

I haven’t heard them or seen them now that we’re all grown-ups, but the New Kids on the Block are back together again. I have to wonder if I’ll still think Joey is the cutest. In my own world, it seems rather appropriate that NKOTB are taking a chance at a comeback.

I keep catching myself reminiscing.

I think it really started when I watched the 19-episode series of “My So-Called Life” on DVD. Mom remembered how much I loved the show in 1994, (Gosh, that’s 14 years ago!) so she bought me the DVDs for my birthday.

Angela Chase is always thinking and talking about what she’s thinking. I can relate to that. And she’s in love with Jordan Catalano, who is completely different from her. Yet they connect. They know each other beyond what’s on the surface. The whole thing had me walking down Memory Lane.

Then yesterday when I was driving to Owensboro, I heard Wilson Phillips on the radio. I guess that’s what I get for forgetting my CDs. Seriously, though, I left it on, and sang “Hold On” to Cate.

(For the record, I don’t sing well, and I certainly don’t sing directly to other people. But this other person is a year old and she’ll never remember that obnoxious moment!)

Some day somebody’s gonna make you want to
Turn around and say goodbye
Until then baby are you going to let them
Hold you down and make you cry
Don’t you know?
Don’t you know things can change
Things’ll go your way
If you hold on for one more day
Can you hold on for one more day
Things’ll go your way
Hold on for one more day

And the trip to Owensboro itself kept me on Memory Lane. I went to have lunch with Mrs. Quigley, who can best be described as my second childhood mom. Her daughter, Katie, is my dearest, closest friend. She’s the kind of friend I can connect with just by the way we say “hello” on the phone, even if we haven’t talked in weeks. She’s the kind of friend that I miss pretty much every day of my life because there was a point in our lives we saw each other every day.

So, anyway, her mom hadn’t seen Cate since Memorial Day weekend last year, so a visit was well overdue. We visited, ate lunch and shopped a little. I was really glad to reconnect and share my daughter with someone who had quite an influence in my teen-age life.

Later in the trip, I heard Jewel’s song “Stronger Woman” on the radio, a country radio station, I’d like to point out. I like that Jewel is considered country these days so I can hear her because that’s mostly what I listen to, especially on the radio. Anyway, I really love this song.

… Well from now on I’m gonna be
The kind of woman I want my daughter to be,
I’m gonna love myself
More than anyone else
Believe in me
Even if someone can’t see
A stronger woman in me
I’m gonna be my own best friend,
Stick with me till the end
Won’t lose myself again
Never, no
Cause there’s a stronger woman,
Stronger woman

Cate was a trooper. We spent about 5 hours in the car, traveling 312 miles. She took a nap there and nap on the way home.

I just sang along with the radio and thought about how I could have never planned my life. (Well, that’s when I wasn’t on the phone!) High school and college were good times for me. I love the relationships I build during those years, and I cherish the ones I still have today. But I really love where I am right now. My life is simple in many ways, and I love feeling free from complications. And I love having Cate along for the ride.

I know how fast my life has gone from a 15-year-old thinking my life wouldn’t start until my friends could drive to counting down the days until I could start fresh at Murray State University to wanting to be finished with school to finding a job to being surprised with my boyfriend at my apartment door with a ring for me to moving back to place I thought I’d never live again to working at a community newspaper that was a better experience than I could have ever imagined to trusting God to give us a baby to quitting that job I loved because I was more in love with my daughter.

It seems so quick. And I don’t want to miss these moments now. I want to cling to the details that are my life. Because, frankly, it’s nice not to be planning for what’s next. It’s nice to be free to live.

Trace Adkins apparently knows how I feel.

You’re going to miss this
You’re going to want this back
You’re going to wish these days
Hadn’t gone by so fast
These are some good times
So take a good look around
You may not know it now
But you’re going to miss this