Update of my own....
I have a friend on Facebook--he's someone I know from the town in CT that I mentioned where my great-aunt had a cottage. He lived across the street, and we even had a "thing" when we were about 13. As Facebook goes, we found each other last year, and he told me that he goes once a week to stay at his cottage in this town (he has inherited it from his dad, who is now deceased). He recently posted pictures of his annual visit--and the pictures make my heart ache! No reason for it. I know I can't go back there. But just the sight of those pictures just pull me back to the little girl who was so well protected. Whose life was simple and serene.
I want to just pray to God for gratitude that I had that time. But it still hurts when I see what I no longer have.... so sorry for this tangent of self-pity. It's not that. It's just that those pictures really zap me right back to that time when I felt so ... simply myself.