Day 12: What do you miss?

Day 12: What do you miss? (a person, a thing, a place, a time of your life...)

Oh, we are about to get sad and misty eyed here folks. Just a fair warning.

I miss my family members that have passed. My grandmother (2002), my uncle (2008), my grandpa (2010) and my step-dad (2013).

I miss being a kid again. I miss Croatia. My childhood was amazing after we left the war-torn Bosnia in 1995. We moved to Croatia to live with my dad and for the first time in a long time, I felt like I was part of a family. 

We had breakfast, lunch and dinner together. I had help with my homework. They encouraged me to do my best. I had support. I had love. I had consistency. I really miss those days. I spent more time outside playing hide and seek than anywhere else. When I was bored, the beach was a 5 minute walk downhill. When I wanted to travel, I hopped on a bus and went to the nearest big city to shop with my friends or alone. 

I went into "town" for ice cream. I remember having school from 8am-2pm one week, then the next week from 12pm-7pm and it was alternated between two weeks of those hours. I miss "tople sendvice"- warm, toasted sandwiches from the kiosk behind the school. Those were amazing. I still remember how they taste..even 16 years later.

I miss the smell of the ocean and the feeling of the pebbles and rocks underneath my feet as I walked on the beach. I miss the smell of the morning breeze when we ate breakfast on the terrace. I miss my childhood friends and our innocence.

For a kid that constantly feared for her life for three years, Croatia became a place of refuge. It became my safe haven. It became home.


Anyways. Now that I am an emotional mess, on to day 13!