Happy

Everything, everywhere, at some point, will change.  We know this.  Yet somehow we forget.

Each time we’re caught off guard by something changing, we chide ourselves and remind ourselves that we know the world changes.

I believe we are wired to expect, or need something to stay the same.  Because everything changes we flitter from one thing to another.  We seek out something that seems solid and immovable because deep down we yearn for something to rest upon.

And if we’re honest, part of ourselves never grew up.  And that part needs to know that we are not the biggest thing out there.  That part needs to know we’re not alone, we may not know everything, and that actually, that’s OK.

I knew Toys R Us would be closing.  My wife and I went to our local store twice in its last days.  Less to shop and more to wander aisles that, for our generation, represented love.

Maybe that’s putting too much weight on what was just a retail store.  But as an adult I’ve realized that one of my love-languages is gifts.  So to 10-year-old me a trip to Toys R Us wasn’t a chance for a toy, it was a giant “I Love You”.

It stung when I realized that this was it.  Today was the last day.  Blame it on bad business decisions made years ago, or the rise of the internet, or Wal-Mart and Target, or higher prices…. whatever the adult reason for it closing, part of me wonders if this is a symptom that we as a society have somehow lost our way.

My childhood wasn’t perfect.  Far from it in some respects.  But I never had to worry about a mass shooting at school.  Or if our government was separating parents from their children simply for crossing a border illegally.  I didn’t have to worry about online predators or cyberbullying.

I think that’s why saying goodbye to Geoffrey was that much harder.  Because for 10-year-old me, Toys R Us was a place where everything was happy.

And for 38-year-old me, Toys R Us will always be a place where everything is happy.