I did not know about bills or betrayal or losing people you love. I did not know that adults could be cruel or that love could hurt. I just knew that my grandmother's kitchen smelled like bread and that the world felt safe.

I also miss how simple love felt back then. Love was my grandmother holding my hand. Love was my mother kissing my forehead before school. Love was my friend sharing her snack with me because I forgot mine. There were no games, no tests, no wondering if someone actually meant what they said. You just knew. You felt it in your body and you did not have to question it.

Now love is complicated. It comes with conditions and fears and walls that I did not build on purpose. I find myself analyzing texts instead of just enjoying them. I find myself waiting for the other shoe to drop instead of trusting that someone might actually stay. I miss the version of me who loved without overthinking everything.

I still love being an adult. I love the freedom and the choices and the people I have in my life. But sometimes I miss the ignorance of being small. I miss falling asleep without a single worry about tomorrow. I miss trusting that someone else had everything under control. And I really miss the kind of love that did not require a second guess.

What is one thing you miss about being a child? Do you ever wish you could love the way you did back then, just for one day, without all the baggage?

Elena🎤