Walking back in time to my childhood places | Radwa Moussa-Youssef

Monday September 14, 2020
Radwa Moussa-Youssef

Why is it always when we think of our younger self we think of how much advice we would have given it, how much we would have warned it from adulthood?Why can’t we go back in time and remember that little kid inside us and bring them home?

In honor of the adults in us who are doing a phenomenal job these days being everything there is and much more, allow me to take you with me on a short “virtual” trip in your brain.

Admit it… how many times did your adult self-go back in time to your childhood places? How many times did you come back triggering memories and bringing quiet, peaceful smiles to your heart?

It’s a little extra crowded than I remember it…

I used to have more space for my bike, but it is ok…

I grabbed the little chrome color dusty beach cruiser from the mini storage unit in our apartment building, strolled around our neighborhood enjoying the heavy almost non existing breeze hitting my face in a humid Cairo August evening!

Here it is! The cute little family owned grocery store where I will spend the change I saved on ice cream and cheap local snacks…

The bike sure seems smaller than I remember…

Nope it’s the same… yet I got bigger…

I changed!

I sat down on the black and white painted pavement across from my apartment building… the only place I called home…looking at a void of a land… It is no longer there! Damn you real estate investors! You are building a skyscraper, aren’t you? Taking away my family home for a steady rental income …

But it is all still there, inside me somewhere in a safe memory box…

The simple smile creeping on my face.

The noises of our neighbor freaking out because her kids are 5 minutes late.

The heavy breeze of humid August in Cairo.

Families chatting and munching fruits in their balconies.

Curfews!

Which in fact never stopped us from socializing from our balconies once we are all back home…

All of it! and a tad more. I don’t have to be there physically…. it is a part of who I am. This little short virtual trip works wonders for me! It makes me a better adult and mother, it allows me to bring the little things that matter to the surface and puts silly daily nuisance in perspective, it reminds me to smile, to pause and love a bit more. I invite you all men and women to allow yourself to travel to one of your favorite places, your old school, neighborhood or grandma’s house.

Write down what you feel and talk about it. Take a deep breath and literally smell that place in the air, take it all in and love yourself a bit more because of it! Don’t look back and wonder what would you have changed, now is yours! Take control of that.

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