to be a child again

Hours outside, scraped knees, learning how to ride a bike. 

Listening to dad read Charlotte's Web before I could read for myself. Is that where my love of good books began? 

Saving pennies to buy a trampoline. Picking potato bugs and dunking them in gas contained in a metal coffee tin. Walking out the driveway (it seemed so long) to be picked up for school. Exploring the corn fields and barnyard and sheds of the farmhouse property where most of my memories lie. 

Social evenings where the adults had staff meeting or quartet singing, playing outside in the dark with childhood friends.

In my mind I can still see 3 of my siblings as newborn babies. By the time the youngest came along I was old enough to be her part time mom. 

Time seemed infinite back then. Summers felt as long as an entire year does now. As a child, I wanted to speed up time. All too soon, I reached an age where I long to freeze time and realize how precious childhood was.

I catch glimpses of myself at that age when I'm with my nieces and nephews. I don't want them to grow up and become adults with responsibilities and heartaches. I want my parents to be here forever for me to lean on.

If heaven is a place where dreams finally do come true, my dream is this: to be a child again.