Reminiscing. Everyone does it, but it is especially essential to do it as we mature. Reminiscing about our past is a reminder that there is a connectedness to others in our life and, hence, our memories foster a sense of community and belonging. And, to be sure, as we age in place, community and belonging are vitally important.
So, in the spirit of furthering nostalgia, here are some things you may recall – some are happy memories and some, not so much.
- Your grade school crush.
- Being happy for making a sports team or being chosen for the cheerleading squad.
- Going to your prom.
- The laborious college application process.
- Your first record by an artist you liked.
- The first time, when you were younger, when someone you knew passed away.
- Graduation from high school.
- Your best friend from grade school.
- Going to summer camp.
- Practicing your musical instrument ad nauseum.
- Attending your first rock concert.
- Moving into your college dorm.
- Getting a part in a school play.
- Going on a family vacation.
- Getting a college acceptance letter.
- Being rebuffed by a boy or a girl.
- Being voted in as a school officer.
- Crying, for the first time, in a movie – and what movie.
- Going Trick or Treating.
- How sad you were when your parents told you that the family is moving.
- Trying to make new friends in a new school.
- Learning to ride a bike – falling off of your bike.
- Getting your first car.
- Being asked to join a sorority or a fraternity.
- Watching cartoons on Saturday morning.
- Having to eat foods that repulsed you.
- Hearing the sound of the “ice cream man.”
- Getting out of school for the Summer.
- Your first day of school.
- Recalling where you were when President John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. were assassinated.
- Watching grainy videos of the Viet Nam War on television.
- Your first kiss.
- Building sandcastles at the beach.
- Taking Driver’s Education in high school.
- Visiting your grandparents.
- Playing outside until it was dark.
- Going on school field trips.
- Going on “back to school” clothing shopping trips.
- Baby teeth falling out, new teeth coming in.
- Going to sleepovers.
- Getting the measles or the mumps!
- Going camping and getting poison ivy!
- Skimming stones.
- Being read a bedtime story.
- Playing hide and seek.
- Celebrating holidays and experiencing holiday dinners.
- Getting your first pet.
- Learning to read.
- Taking your first spelling test.
- Learning to write cursive.
- Getting your first stuffed animal.
- Seeing the moon landing in 1969.
- Finding out that a best friend talked about you, behind your back.
- Climbing trees.
- Getting your first bouquet of flowers.
- Flying a kite.
- Seeing the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show.
- Remembering the people on your paper route.
- Going to a malt shop.
- Listening to music from a jukebox. Learning to dance.
- Learning how to play a sport.
- Hearing the song Only You (by the Platters).
- Blowing out candles on your birthday cake.
- Getting your first pet.
Memories are timeless treasures of the heart. (ANON)
For further information on the importance of reminiscing, go to psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-empowerment-diary/202508/why-is-reminiscing-good-for-us.
