never grow up

my sister, brother, & I in the early 90s

I'm a big Taylor Swift fan, and I can't stop listening to her newest album, Speak Now. One of the songs on that album, called Never Grow Up, is about how children and teenagers can't wait to grow up, but once they are actually young adults and moving out on their own, they realize they are going to miss their childhood. As a college senior graduating in May, I have been listening to this song over and over. The one line that is especially poignant to me at this time is "I just realized everything I have is someday gonna be gone." Here are the things I realized I will miss most about growing up in my childhood home with my family:

• Reading books and taking naps on the screened-in front porch in the summertime
• The way all the windows in the house fog up when my dad makes homemade chicken soup in the winter
• Sitting on the wooden porch stairs eating ice cream from the local ice cream shop
• My family's pretty, matching wooden dining room table and buffet set
• Waving to my mom who was watching me from the side window while I walked to elementary school
• Playing Beanie Babies and N64 with my siblings on days off from school
• Trips to the public library and pool in the summertime
• Running around the house trying to find our Easter baskets in one of the five different spots they were always possibly hidden
• The old-timey fashion photos from Cedar Point that hang at the top of our stairs
• The way my sister and I's room fills up with gorgeous, yellow amber-y light at sunset
• Countless dinners in the kitchen and movie nights in the living room

And so many more memories! What kind of things do you miss from your childhood or are your favorite memories from growing up with your family?