Tuesday
Sep112012
25 Things I Miss
Tuesday, September 11, 2012 
This list was influenced by Hula Seventy's List Forty-Two: Things I Miss.
- Being part of a culture in which we all knew how to sing and regularly broke out into four-part harmony
- The sweet smell of the glue you had to lick on the backs of postage stamps
- Red Tic Tacs
- The time before I knew the knowledge and fear that having cancer leaves you
- Hockey arena gravy on crinkle fries in little cardboard baskets
- My blue blankie
- Sneaking under the fence for a free concert at the Exhibition
- The comforting discomfort of pine needles between the sheets under a scratchy wool blanket at the lake
- The smell of the dirt floor root cellar where I used to escape from the summer heat
- Quarters hidden in birthday cakes
- Tinned strawberry jam
- Saturday morning cartoons with artistic character that aren't cheap-looking computer animations
- My first favourite pair of shoes that said Left on the left toe and Right on the right toe next to a little mouse racing a red car
- The squeak of chisel-tipped permanent markers on bristle board in Sunday School
- The sound of those hollow plastic Big Wheels tricycle tires crunching on gravel and asphalt
- Spending whole afternoons alphabetizing my books and rearranging my bedroom
- O'Ryans Sour Cream & Onion Chips, which were discontinued in the 90s
- My favourite summer dress, which was stolen from me during a break-in 14 years ago
- Being a little kid in a petting zoo when all the animals seemed so big
- Count Chocula
- Santa's Pizza, which was a restaurant I spent many, many, many nights in
- Watching The Flintstones at lunch
- The red ribbon on the lamp my grandmother received as a wedding gift in the 60s that faded and drooped but remained nonetheless over the next 30 years
- The town graveyard in Drake, Saskatchewan
- The velvet touch of a primer pencil on Hilroy notebook paper
What do you miss?
Reader Comments (20)
I have to ask. How many quarters did you swallow? I remember those big wheels, too. Mine had a brake that you could pull and spin out on the gravel.
I miss falling asleep on my dad's lap. I could still do it, but I don't think he'd like it too much now.
I miss my grandparents' cookie jar.
I miss running in from the bus to watch The Little Rascals.
I miss not worrying about things so much.
Specifically, from my childhood....
I miss the newness of everything that is "back to school supplies". The virginal paper in new notebooks; the sound and smell of never-been-used pencil crayons; the decision of how to invent myself in written form for the forthcoming school year (ie. will I write the date in the top right corner, or the top left? Will I underline with red pen, or simply use blue pen to make capital lettered- headings?); the new shoes that were so uncomfortable you wanted to die, until they were finally broken in (which is the exact moment my mother would decide they should be thrown out, coincidentally...).
I also miss watching The Flintstones at lunch, while eating Alphagetti and white bread with margarine (oh, I long for the days that I didn't care about what I ate).
I miss the smell of garlic and dill in my grandma's house.
And.....smelly markers.
I can't get into what I miss right now because I'm still at work and shouldn't start blubbering.
What I will say is that I love your key. I can't stop staring at it.
I miss carefree days not being buried under a mountain of responsibility.
I miss the flutter of first realizing I was in love.
I miss having time for artwork.
I miss the smell of freshly sharpened #2 pencils on the first day of school.
I miss talking to my sister in our bunk beds after bedtime.
I miss the smell of my Grammie's perfume.
I miss the squeaky sound of my baby sister's baby voice.
I miss bike rides along the strand with my Grandpa.
There is much more, but I don't want this to turn into an epic poem...
i miss my post that i submitted earlier.....where did it go? there was some good stuff in there.
The Flintstones at lunch. Yes!
My beloved O'Grady's Au Gratin chips disappeared sometime in the 1990s, also.
I miss seeing my beautiful, precious and awesome dog, Spencer, easily jumping up to charge the front door to bark at the mailman. He recently turned 14 and can no longer hear when his arch enemy drops by to torment him.
I miss my flat stomach.
I miss the excitement of opening a brand new box of crayons.
I miss spending a whole Saturday immersed in a good book.
I miss waking up to coffee, bacon and the smell of smoke from the wood stove at the cabin.
I miss "real" baked goods. I was diagnosed celiac 8 years ago and have been gluten free long enough to not remember what a real cinnamon bun tasted like.
I miss more but I am also at work. ;-)
Oh my gosh! I thought my mom was the only one that hid quarters in birthday cakes!!! I need to start doing that for my kids.
I'll tell you later...I'm too distracted by my realization that someone may truly have stolen my favorite dress.
It's even dumber: It was someone we paid to clean our house. Or: Her helpers. I knew she took jewelry and an ancient little iPad thingy. But then my dress was missing and for years I've been hoping to find it somewhere--that it is just misplaced. But I think it went with the rest of the stuff.
My excuse for hiring cleaners is that I do run a boarding house and work full time. I have boarders. I told you about that.
Anyway, I'll get back to you because now I am distracted by this realization I'll never see that dress again!
Obviously, I miss the dress.
Boy, missing things sure stirs up some strong feelings in me! ARGH. There's a lot. You touched a nerve with this one!
I have met so many people and have received so many emails from people who have a significant fear of death. So may I hope to receive a reply from you how we can overcome this fear?
I miss....
my parents
the days of no responsibility
laying in the pool, radio blaring
baby smell
puppy smell
the firsts of a new relationship
sleeping in because I could
I miss
watching my kids in their elementary school concerts
the sound an LP made before the song started
sitting out in the sun and not worrying about skin damage
Stella D'oro Anginetti cookies (production stopped 5 years ago)
I also miss good Saturday morning cartoons. I miss a number of other things too, but it all seems to sad to write down. Quarters in birthday cakes sounds like the most awesome choking hazard.
I miss drizzly, rainy Saturdays cuddled in the house under my grandma's afghans, reading, eating and laughing with my mom and my sisters.
#1. Yes! One of the great disappointments of my adult life . . . where is the choir for grownups?
The smell of my grandfather's corduroy coat with dog biscuits in the pocket
The nights when my Dad would come home and teach me to make him Manhattan's while we blared Joe Cocker's Mad Dogs and Englishmen
Waking up after my parents had apary and eating the leftover onion dip and stale crinkle chips
The 8-track I always played in my dynamite 8-track player with Summer breeze, a horse with no name, American woman and several other tracks I would like to remember (in order) so I could make a spotify soundtrack that made me feel like summer 1976
The smell of the leather seats of one of dad's vintage cars on a warm day
The feel of wrapping my arms around my Dad and winding through the countryside on his motorcycle.
My Italian grandmother's eggs. To this day I can't recreate the taste.
I miss my band. I miss my Dad. I miss my dear friend who died of AIDS.
I miss Hough bakery cinnamon rolls.
I miss George Carlin and John Lennon.
I used to spend afternoons alphabetizing my books too! And they still make Count Chocula and Frankenberry around Halloween time, so get the milk ready. ;)
I miss my sister Karon.
I miss the overcrowded, noisy, chaotic Christmas celebrations of my childhood.
I miss playing Yahtzee with great-aunt Flossie.
I miss visiting great-aunt Genevieve.
I miss crepe myrtle trees.
I miss the sound of palm trees rustling in the wind.
I miss the beauty of the Cotswalds.
I miss Fayetteville, NY.
I miss passion.
I miss all the friends I have had to leave behind.
I miss Bonkers candy and Heinz chicken noodle soup in the box... the neon yellow stuff.