If you had to relive one year of your life, which year would you choose and why?
*photo by richbunce
41 thoughts on “Looking Back”
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If you had to relive one year of your life, which year would you choose and why?
*photo by richbunce
Comments are closed.
1996–the year I became a mother. I would love to compare the (kinda freaked-out) mother I was back then to the mom I am now. Have a feeling the two would be totally different!
I think all new mothers are kinda freaked out, aren’t we?? So that would make your oldest sixteen? did I do the math right? Does it make you nervous to have a driver on your hands?
Sixteen, yes. And more nervous than I thought I’d be, for sure!
Do you get a do-over or do you have to live it the way it was? If I could do-over, I’d probably choose my first years out of university. I worried far too much about the future. If I just got to go back and live it as it was, I’d like to be a child again. Watching my toddler grow up makes me yearn for that magic and simplicity again.
I was imagining living it as it was. But either one works!
I would repeat my senior year in high school. It was such an amazing, fun time that it’d be nice to “visit” there again!
I really liked my senior year too!
Cool question, K! I don’t know if I can pick just one, but maybe my junior year of high school. That was a good one. But all the rest before and since have been pretty good, too. 🙂
A lot of people say they’d never go back to high school, but like you, I really loved it. I’d like to go back to my senior year. Maybe even my freshman year. But only if I could do some things differently!
Ooh, fun question. Definitely the year I studied in London! Such a blast…so many adventures…such a growing time for my faith…such amazing people who I MISS… 🙂
Fun question!!
When did you study in London, Melissa? I’ve never been, but it’s very high on my list of “I want to go go there”.
2nd grade! That’s when my husband and I became friends (and we had little puppy love crushes on each other!) but my memories from that year are scattered. I remember when he gave me a rock (which I still have!) and I remember sitting across from each other in homeroom but I wish I remembered more, like playing together and what we talked about!
You knew your husband in 2nd grade!? That is awesome! Wouldn’t you just LOVE to be able to know what you talked about??
I would want to relive the first year I was married. I know myself better & my husband better — and I think I would love my husband better now. (I do love him better now.)
🙂
I think I love mine better now too. 🙂
So interesting how many people chose the year they were eight! I would, too (that would be 1982, I guess). It was the year before we moved, I had lots of friends, life was fascinating and wonderful (I remember comforting the grass before my dad had to mow it). Life was about school and play and family, and I felt beautiful and in love with God.
Okay, that is another awesome story. Comforting the grass? That is totally adorable. I can just picture you as a little girl.
Age 15. It was a difficult, yet freeing year in my life.
Freeing is always beautiful. Wish I could know more!
2005, we got married in March that year and I loved planning my wedding, dreaming about being married and then learning about each other in marriage and figuring out how to live with a guy! Then, in November when he started complaining about a lump in his neck, I’d change the past, I’d believe him, and encourage him to have a biopsy done, instead of doubting him or calling him a hypochondriac :p (it’s a good thing I have a forgiving husband, and a forgiving Lord!)Even though his cancer was still only stage 1 when they caught it 9 months later, I wonder how the story might have changed had I put faith and trust in my husband and the fact that he knows his body….Then again, God’s timing was perfect (which you can read about here http://preciousgrainsofsand.blogspot.com/2011/03/my-irish-blessing.html if you wish), I guess I wouldn’t want to change that after all…..But oh how I’d love to experience our engagement and wedding again so much joy and excitement, love the dreaming stage, and to have truly appreciated that time where we were merely a couple, not parents. 🙂
Wow, Teresa, that sounds like an amazing story. I’d love to experience the first year of dating, when Ryan and I couldn’t even stand to be apart.
That’s a tough one! I think I have to copy Lisa’s statement. Every year has shaped and defined who I am. I’m not sure I can pick one. I have several events I’d like to relive though. Like my wedding. My kids’ first birthdays. I loved those days! 🙂
It’s hard to choose one specific year. Each year has shaped me into the person I am today. Those hardships and mistakes tempered my faith. If I could have a do-over, I’d like to go back to my boys’ early years and be a better mom knowing what I know now. Since I can’t go back, I simply move forward making better choices and keeping God close. Great topic for thought, Katie.
Hmmm, not really sure. Maybe I’d relive the year my husband and I fell in love. It was a hard year, because my mom had passed away not too long before, but other than that, falling in love was so fun. 🙂 Either that or the first year of marriage. Life was simple but filled with those little fun times you don’t fully appreciate until they’re over.
Life was really simple that first year of marriage for us, too! Everyone used to tell us, the first year of marriage is the hardest. But it totally wasn’t for us. We lived in a house the size of a garage. I was going to school. He was working construction. We had a little puppy. Fun times.
What a wonderful question! I think I would relive the year we decided to move to Florida and maybe convince my husband and me to stay in PA instead.
It would be interesting to see how different your life would be right now if you did stay in PA. I always wonder about that sort of stuff….how different my life could be had I made different decisions. I have regrets. Things I’d like to change. But if I could, I’m not sure that I would. I’d be too afraid to not have what I have now. My husband. Our son. My friends. Writing.
Age 8. Loved that year.
~ Wendy
I don’t remember much about my eighth year. Except I was a total tom boy with a bowl cut. Wore my bro’s hand-me-downs. Many people mistook me for a boy. I’m not sure I’d want to relive that. 😉
Wonderful question Kate! I actually choose now 2012. I wouldnt want to go back. I have finally found my writer groove and have a book out next month and 2 more on the way. My son is 9 and a wonderful age – adore being with him. My husband’s job is good and stable. Life is blessed right now! I would want to see my mom again, which I could if I went back in time but I feel at peace that I spent time with her as she faded away and have no regrets. If you asked me this another year I would have said otherwise – funny how once you push over 40 that you find how much you appreciate what you have in front of you and dont want more. What about you, Kate?
I love that you have no regrets and are at peace with the time you spent with your mom. What a gift that is!
Hmmm…..maybe sixth grade. I know that seems like such a weird age to relive. Sixth grade is generally filled with awkwardness. But man, I had this best friend in sixth grade and all I remember doing is laughing, laughing, laughing. Sometimes we peed our pants.
1987. The year I met my husband. Such a wonderful year. A beautiful year. What more can I say?
Falling in love is wonderful, isn’t it?
You know what they say: During that first year, you just want to eat him up. And by the seventh year, you wish you had. 🙂
LOL! I love that.
Tough question. I think, maybe, the year my husband and I took like four trips together. Between vacation, my brother getting married, and his job, we went to some really fun places.
Trips = Fun!
What an interesting question! I would choose eight or nine, I think. My daughter is that age now, and it’s a wonderful time–innocent, curious, fun.
So funny that you picked your daughter’s age, because when I was writing this question, I was tempted to pick my son’s age. But he’s three, and unless I could remember and be aware of what was going on, I’m not sure I’d pick three. I’m just curious to see the world with his eyes.
You’re right – eight/nine is a magical age.
I would relive 1996. That was the last full year we had with my beloved mother-in-law before she lost her battle with breast cancer in February 1997.
Why would I relive a year that held such sorrow? Because I’d have the advantage of hindsight. I would know to spend more time with Mother than I did, to be more patient with Dad, to show more support to my husband, and to do a better job explaining what was going on to our daughter, who was only five at the time. In addition, I would take pen and paper and record all of Mother’s stories instead of trusting myself to remember them all, which, sadly, I can’t.
Thanks for your post, Katie. It’s served as a reminder to treasure those the Lord has brought into our lives and make memories to last a lifetime.
What a thoughtful response, Keli. I think it’s beautiful that you would relive a year of sorrow. Makes me realize that there is joy to be found in the sorrow. In those sweet, short moments of the present, when we don’t look ahead and get overwhelmed with grief or fear regarding what’s to come. But we simply enjoy the moment of having that person with us now and being there for our loved ones.