Nostalgia

There's never any wind or rain in nostalgia.

~ Fredrik Backman

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Nostalgia comes from the Greek combining ideas of "return" and "home" with pain. Homesickness. Nostalgia is a curtain that mostly blocks out all but the best memories. In a world where we are constantly encouraged to compare ourselves, our lives, and our accomplishments with others, nostalgia pushes back to idealize what it is we think we are missing from the past or from home.

My mom's house is up for sale. The guy who bought it from us flipped it. It looks a lot different on the inside, though it is virtually unchanged on the outside. I'm not nostalgic for that place, but I am a bit nostalgic for the people who lived in and near that house. 

Not all of them, though. There's one of them in particular who makes a recurring appearance in my law and ethics course.

Ah, memories...