This past week a friend of mine from my teaching days, posted a video on Facebook of her grandson’s acapella group singing, “It’s so hard to say goodbye to yesterday,” by Boyz II Men. His melodious voice captivated my attention as I listened to the song’s poignant lyrics. As I listened, my mind traveled back to the people and places who played a part in the person I am today. It is hard to say goodbye to yesterday, but do we ever really say “goodbye?” To me, a goodbye is final, an ending. I’d rather like to think that our yesterdays remain as a part of our todays. We may physically leave our yesterdays behind as we go forth, but they will always remain in our subconscious, ready to burst forth at any given moment.

As May approaches her sixteenth birthday this month and Eloise nears her thirteenth, I find myself thinking back to all the yesterdays we shared; yesterdays that still bring a smile to my face and warm my heart with love. May, Eloise, and I have moved on from those days, but did we ever really leave them behind? Today, when I look at May I still see the little girl with ribbons in her hair, galloping around the living room on her hobby horse singing “Jingle Bell Rock.” Her smile reminds me of all the times when her six-year-old self would confidently hit a baseball and gleefully run through the grassy yard. When I look at Eloise I see her in an oversized hat walking amongst flowers with her “baby” tucked under her arm, always the caring “mother.”  I see her carefully watching and emulating her older sister in joy-filled song and dance, nothing seems to escape her keen powers of observation.

As I think of all the yesterdays that I shared with both my granddaughters, I think about how fortunate I am to be able to recall those moments at will. When I see a child laughing and running wildly through a sprinkler on a hot day, I can relate to the joy the child feels having experienced it through my granddaughters. I haven’t said goodbye to their yesterdays, rather I relive them whenever a child comes into my view. My granddaughters’ yesterdays are an integral part of my todays, just as I will hopefully continue to be a part of theirs.

Yes, both girls have grown in body and mind, but all of the traits they possess today were built upon many yesterdays, yesterdays that marked and will continue to mark their paths through life. We all may have moved on from the physical aspects of our yesterdays, but the impact of those days will forever remain as a part of our lives.