In the past few weeks, I’ve felt like each time the spring sunshine warmed me, it also drenched me in nostalgia. Fewer words more aptly describe a feeling than this one. Nostalgia is about more than recollection; it is about the bittersweet nature of specific memories.

I’m nerdy about language, so out of curiosity I looked up the etymology of this word. It’s roots are in the Greek ‘nostos’, meaning ‘to return home’ and ‘algos’, meaning ‘pain’. It evolved into a term for homesickness. I guess that still holds true today, because it tends to relate to a longing for something it isn’t possible to have. Whether that’s re-experiencing a moment of happiness or returning to a far away place we still love.

I found some resonance in the roots of this word today. That’s because what I am nostalgic about right now was a time both of intense pain…