Nostalgia Rains

I'm always whisked back in time when I hear raindrops on my roof. Many people dislike when it rains, because it casts a gloom over a person's mood. The lack of sunshine can feel dismal and cold. This can be true, and I can't deny that I have felt those ways many a time when it has rained. But since living in my current house, I enjoy the rain much more, because it takes me back to being a little girl. 

If I close my eyes, I can picture the little house I grew up in for the first seven years of my life. It had three little bedrooms that housed nine people. The bedrooms are the most important, because we had to fit several bodies in each of those rooms. The first room (and the one pertinent to rain) in which I stayed, held four sisters. There was a bunk bed where my two older sisters slept. And then there was the floor. My younger sister and I got to sleep there. We had little fold-away beds that we would store under the bunk bed during the day, and pull them out at night. We'd arrange them side-by-side on the floor and get "our spaces" all comfy and cozy for the night.

I remember getting all snuggled down for bed at night, feeling nice and drowsy, ready to drift off. Those routines were always pleasant, because they are just that, routine! But on days when it was raining? I couldn't wait to go to bed. I would get all ready for nighttime and impatiently wait for everyone else in the room to stop moving and making noise, and then it would happen!

The faint pitter patters on the roof could be heard! Most of the time, houses don't have tin or aluminum roofs. I'm not sure exactly what it's made of, only that few houses are built that way. After we moved, I would always get so excited when it would start raining only to have that excitement plummet rather quickly because I couldn't hear it in this new house. My husband and I bought a house about four years ago, and I fell in love very quickly the first time it rained on the metal roof. 

This might seem rather silly, but the constant pitter patters are so comforting to me! It would lull me to sleep and make me feel safe. When I'm safely snuggled in my house with a blanket tucked around me, holding a cup of hot coffee listening to the rain, a wave of contentment just washes over me. It's when I most enjoy reading books to my children, or cuddling up next to my husband and enjoying his presence. It brings  simplicity to my life and reminds me of what is important.

It's been rainy all day today, which is why this has been on my mind. Perhaps it may not create the sense of nostalgia for you, reader, but maybe, just maybe, it may cause you to pause in the business of your day the next time it rains, and think about the consistencies in your life. Those things that bring joy to you, the pitter patters with which your life is blessed. And maybe rain will make you smile...