The passage of time sometimes seems like it does something strange to our minds. It gives rise to some peculiar type of myopia or amnesia. Things that were once very unpleasant or barely tolerated somehow become romanticized when viewed from a distance or through the filter of years. How many times has someone you know reminisced about the good old days when you know darned well that they despised those good old days? Those good old days actually sucked.
... Family reunions with those nasty cousins and that hateful aunt ... changing your babies diapers ... sweltering through summers without air conditioning ... fighting with siblings ... slogging through 4 years of back-breaking studies at college ... trying to keep up with repairs on a first house with an empty wallet ...
I could go on listing things that people love to look back on fondly. Oh, I am quite sure that a few actually did enjoy themselves during some of these seasons. However, I am even more sure that the majority of folks who fondly yearn for those old times have somehow not remembered how miserable they were. My guess is that they have developed some sort of Norman Rockwell-itis, where they wish they actually had good memories of the old times or where they wish that they could go back to those times that they should have embraced and relished in, and do it over again. The right way this time.