Eulogy: Childhood

If maturity had never happened, if growing up had never existed, childhood would still be here. I would still be able to laugh freely, lightheartedly, no troubles or burdens affecting me. I would still speak in innocent tones; I would revel and cavort in the simplicity of everyday life and find something ordinary wonderful and magical, simply by imagination flaring inside me. Childhood was a precious time and time that will always be in my heart. How I wish sometimes, that I could go back to those happy, joy-filled days where a brown, mossy stick could be a gleaming silver sword and a leaf-covered clearing in the woods could a fairy’s gilded ballroom. However, if I had stayed in childhood forever, if I had never left the realm of make believe that all children live in, how could I have experienced the things I have and the things I look forward to? I would never have kissed a boy, or driven a car or talked until midnight with my best friend. I would not have felt the excitement of an A on my math exam, or the jolt in my stomach when my crush looked at me. I would not have felt the pain of a pet dying, or the sadness of friends becoming enemies and the joy of enemies becoming friends. I would not feel the increasing nervousness as the prospect of high school looms ever so menacingly on the horizon. These emotions and experiences are things that I would never give up, not for anything, now that I have experienced them. Childhood, I will miss you dearly, but all good things cannot last forever. I can only treasure the beloved memories I have of you, and look forward, to the future.

                                                                        - Jenn