By Carol Smitz Corken

Today, as I was driving, I noticed a pile of boxes and bags at the curb in front of a house I drive by daily.

“Oh, no!” I thought. It was the house with the skeleton! The skeleton dressed in whatever holiday was near — Christmas, St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, 4th of July. I’m going to miss that skeleton; it was something I looked for every day and sometimes made my day.

Then I started thinking about what else I missed in Salisbury:

• The house on Statesville Boulevard with all the daffodils. My neighbors and I figured out that the new tenants/owners must have mowed them all down. What was a yearly springtime riot of daffodils, was just an average lawn this spring.

• The artist downtown who drew caricatures. I looked for him every time I went through downtown. Sadly, he passed away — two years ago? Three years? Where does the time go?

• The walking man who walked past our house every day in the morning. The lady with the schnauzer who walked by daily. Where are they now?

• Wink’s Barbecue — the best mac’n’cheese around.

• My mail woman. She delivered to our house for years. Sadly, she is now permanently downtown.

I always told my kids, “Change is good, nothing ever stays the same.” Because, really, change is inevitable. But I miss so much. The older I get, the more I miss.

I miss:

• My mom. She drove me crazy, but she was my mom.

• My grandparents. Unconditional love is so important. I wouldn’t be who I was without the love and guidance of both sets of grandparents.

• My kids. We had so much fun when they were young. Now they are busy and some live hours away.

• Family. When I was young, everything was centered around family — trips, weekends, holidays. Now we are scattered and some have passed on.

• Friends. I once had a friend tell me that we had different friends for different times in our lives. I thought we would be friends forever, but a move and a divorce changed that relationship. Someone who you talked to every day for years can be just a distant memory. Geography, life changes, death — they all affect friendships.

• Work. I miss working and hanging with my work friends. We still stay in touch, but meeting for coffee just isn’t an option now.

• Favorite shows. Authors who are now gone. My favorite band’s average age is 80! To count on entertainment in the form of books, shows, music and then to have a limit on those things because the creator is now gone. What a disappointment.

• Food. Some foods can never be replicated. Whether it is the situation or the company, it just isn’t the same. They say memories are strongly tied to foods and vice versa. I believe it.

• Lilacs. I had a giant lilac bush at my old house that produced the best-smelling lilacs. I also had a huge camellia bush that my grandfather gave me. They are both still there, but it isn’t my house anymore.

So, I guess, what I’m trying to say is to cherish what you have today, because tomorrow it may not be there. Take pleasure in seeing those familiar daily sights, eating the flavor of-the-month Blizzard, smelling the fragrance of the porch gardenias. Sometimes it is the little things that make life so special.

Carol Smitz Corken lives in Salisbury.