Threshold

By Ruby F

You're walking out of the house on a warm summer night. The sun is still up and it's 7:00 when heading for the door. For many, there's that faint sound of an ice cream truck going by, warm windy car rides to any close adventure your family could reach. The small buzzing sound of the cicadas you could never seem to spot, or know where it came from. 

These memories, collections of mental files and boxes stored away only for when a distinct sense or object appears to be familiar, and it's until then you're brought with the nostalgic bliss.

Even if I have driven by a street and years later, I'm walking down it with the most amazing people next to me, those memories are some that I'll keep forever. 

Along with growing up, like having more independence while going out, and supporting myself financially, I'm able to experience much more along with going to places I've been to before with those now advantages.

Wondering on how one of my close friends thinks of nostalgia, Mary Jane refers to it as 

Mary Jane: “A part of happiness because you remember that feeling, you feel warm inside. It's like getting a hug from your brain.”

Further looking into this feeling as MJ described it, I turn to my cousin Lauren. We basically grew up together, so sharing aspects of our childhood is always a warm feeling to remind ourselves of that nostalgia, and how it could bring comfort to us now.   

For Lauren, it's these small liminal objects that give that sense, one of them being near her 1st home on 2nd street.  

Lauren: “The park by Japan Town; I remember one time I met this lady that made fairies out of little wooden heads and fake flowers.”

This makes me think about how certain objects can create this feeling, describing them as liminal. Being that there's a transition, waiting, knowing and not knowing. As these objects are only in the form of memory, we can't go back nor properly know how to describe or re-remember them. 

Making us realize that the colors have changed, as well as our surroundings. Sometimes getting older, looking back it's a hazy foggy sight. Often now, life can look dull. 

That's why keeping that feeling alive can lift us up a little more. Luaren shared with me that, 

Lauren: “It's bitter sweet, and honestly for me, it feels more bitter only because I do miss it a lot. But then I look now, and I'm like, the older I get, the more opportunities I have to do things that I would never imagine myself doing as a nine-year-old whether it be driving, applying for a job, dating someone—that is so exciting.”

For the Warrior Times, this is Ruby Franco.