Growing Up, A Reflection

You know, it is always interesting what you remember from your childhood. For some there are a lot of things that they wish they could forget. For me they are things which I wish I could relive.
Living out in California I cannot be like I was back home in Illinois. My neighborhood back home was always a pleasant place. Out here in California there is really nothing that speaks to me as a neighborhood. The house that I live in is built on a hill, so the houses are not really next to each other, but up the hill from each other. I miss being able to talk to neighbors and do all the fun stuff that you do as a kid with the neighbors. I realize that I am 25 years old, but I think living in a neighborhood is part of what I want in life, even if I am too old now to do all those fun things anymore.
Then, of course, there are those little things in life. Growing up there was a hot meal every single night of the week. I recall very rarely going out to eat, but we did that every once in a while. The special treat on our birthdays when I was younger was we got to pick where we went (I think 9 times out of 10 it turned out to be Showbiz Pizza, which is now Chuck E. Cheese). When we got older we just got to pick our favorite meal and my parents would make that on our birthdays. Did this take much money at all? Not really. I would choose a nice homecooked meal over McDonalds any day. Sure we had relatively the same things every week, but it was still good. Then there are those Saturday mornings and Sunday nights. Growing up we always had a nice supper on Sunday nights, whether it was pizza, sub sandwiches, beef sandwiches or sausage/meatball sandwiches there was always something waiting on Sunday nights after church. Then of course there is the tradition that I have started out here on Saturday mornings: waffles. I cheat and use a box of mix, but I am pretty sure that my dad always made them from scratch. I don't recall having waffles every week back home, but it was enough that I certainly do remember them.
So, if you read somewhere or hear me say "I want to go home" or "I am thinking about running away" you now know what I want to run away to. I miss those times back home. I honestly wish that I could relive them.