By Jim LaJoie
Everyone has cherished moments in their past. Oftentimes they come from life-altering changes: graduation, marriage or the birth of a child. Sometimes they are more nuanced moments, spending some time with a close friend you lost touch with or seeing a grandchild take their first steps.
I have often thought about how fortunate I am to have many moments in my life to look fondly back on. They are moments that I will always treasure, that always bring me a warm feeling for having experienced them and a tinge of sadness that they are now just a memory.
These are just a few of the moments - in no particular order - I would gladly go back in time to relive, even if for just one day:
Any day playing street hockey in the Boston-area in the late 60s, early 70s. My friends and I all wanted to be Bobby Orr or Phil Esposito. When we didn’t have school, we would play for hours until it got dark, and our mothers chased us home. Some of my happiest moments were spent during this time.
The day I met my wife. When I walked into that restaurant in Providence, RI and saw her for the first time I knew my life had changed, for the better, forever.
The day of our marriage. The ceremony seemed to give our relationship a legal permanence that was comforting.
There are several days I would return to and make a different decision than the one I did then. I don’t know how much better my life would be, but I would have fewer regrets.
Any day with my now deceased basset hound Maggie. I would like to take even just one more long walk in the park with her.
The night in 2004 that the Red Sox won their first championship in 86 years. I still get goosebumps remembering this.
Any day in my teens that I helped my grandfather with his yardwork. I would listen more intently to what he had to say, for he was a much wiser man than the younger me ever gave him credit for.
Any one of the many crazy Friday or Saturday nights with my college buddies when we were 19 or 20. Of course, I would need an extra 24 hours with that younger body of mine to recover from the night before. My 60-something body would need to be hospitalized for a month if I now did a quarter of what I would do on a single night at that age.
Moments spent with my closest friends, typically sitting around having a beer or two, talking sports, life, certainly nothing profound. Really, just enjoying each other’s company.
One more day with those I have lost.
I don’t remember the exact year, month or day, but that morning in my early 40s that I remember walking to the train station on my way to work and feeling, for the first time, truly comfortable in my own skin, in who I had become. That realization hit me like a bolt of lightning. I try to remember that moment when I am feeling less than happy with myself.
The days that I got to see the new-born children of friends and family. Every single one was uniquely important to me. I would go back and relive every one of those days.
That day, for work, when I arrived in Paris for the first time. I have never been a world traveler, so seeing that great city for the first time was amazing. Seeing the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, the Seine River, all left me with a feeling of awe.
The day I closed on my first house. Sure, looking at the amortization table and what the house would ultimately cost me made my knees buckle a bit, but I felt a tremendous achievement in owning my own home, as old and in need of repair as it was. My parents had always rented, so owning a house was not a well-known experience to me. I have always tried remembering that with each successive house I have owned.
Any day walking along a coastline or spent on an island.
Any day spent quietly on a couch with my wife, reading or watching television.
These are just a few moments I would wish to relive. There are so many more.
I am confident there will be more impactful moments in my future. I look forward to experiencing them and having them as comforting memories.
About the author: Jim LaJoie is a resident of North Carolina.