Mama's Boy

It’s the little things that are missed. I’m sure people can relate to that.

Example: the little things about someone, like the strange things they do, or the way your friend can make you laugh at the stupidest things.

Another example: the little things about a place, like the smells or the way the sun peaks through the trees, accentuating certain things.

One of the memories I have that I miss is cramming hard and sleeping later during the week, hanging out Friday night, waking up late Saturday morning, going to Mama’s Boy for brunch, and then going for a walk in the park out behind the restaurant.

I go to school down the street from there now but I’ve haven’t been since I graduated from undergrad.

That’s a sweet memory, though. Mama’s Boy has a little parking out front so when it gets busy—as it usually does on weekends for brunch—you have to park out back. I remember a bridge. Is it something you have to cross to get to the park or is it overhead? Am I even thinking about the right place?

Some of my favorite memories have been in parks: going to a park near a friend’s place and wading through the river; mountain biking with my friend on the trails in another park; going to Stone Mountain Park with some friends and having trouble grilling up hotdogs (I was told that happened the day before my accident? It seems like decades ago).

Now that parks and the things I did aren’t accessible for me anymore, I miss them. I think it's the peace that they bring me. The grass, the tress, the sun--I love being wrapped by these things. I want to lay out in the grass and take in these things.

I always get nostalgic around exam time when I am trapped inside studying.

Just like we should enjoy the time we spend with people because they may not be here soon, we should enjoy the places we spend time in. Maybe it’s not the places that are significant. Perhaps it’s the people we were with and the memories that were made at that particular time and place. After all, it’s not where you are or what you do; it’s who you’re with that really matters.