If you could bring back one person from your childhood or teen years to spend just one more day with who would it be? A best friend, a long passed relative, a favorite teacher, a coach? And how would you spend that day?
For me it would be my paternal grandfather. I grew up in an extended family with him. He passed away when I was twelve.
In his village in Germany he was somewhat of a chess champion, and he was determined that all his grandchildren were going to learn how to play.
He retired when I was five and that was when he began teaching me how to play. I would walk into that big country kitchen and he would sit up in his arm chair in the corner and eagerly ask "Time for a game?" And I would always agree.
But by the time I turned 11 things changed. I changed. I no longer had the patience to wait while he made his move. He took forever!
He told me that I should be using the time to think beyond my next move. To think ahead, to anticipate.
A lesson I value now but didn't appreciate then.
So I had my excuses. I had homework to do, I had chores to do, I had to work in the garden, etc. Until all of a sudden, a couple of years later he was no longer there.
I would love to be able to walk into that kitchen one more time and have him ask me "Time for a game?" My answer would be a resounding "Yes!"
And of course I would lose, as I always did, but it would be worth it just to hear that question one more time.
Who is the person you want to see again?