let it rain, let it pour

• big raindrops plopping
• cat-sitting
• learning football vocabulary

     Have you ever felt a sudden change in mood parallel to a weather change? Most people report a downturn in positivity in thunderstorms or gloomy weather, and the opposite is true with nice sunny weather. There is a serious disease related to this very thing. It's called SAD, seasonal affective disorder. SAD is characterized by feelings of sadness and depression that occur in the winter months when the temperatures drop and the days grow short. This specific type of depression is frequently associated with excessive eating, sleeping and gaining weight. Women are two to three times more likely to be affected by the winter blues than guys. Probably due to women's more emotional way of life than men, men are typically stronger, and less open with their emotions and concerns. 

     I tend to be the opposite, well not exactly. I do love a beautiful sunny day on the beach. Waves crashing, hot sand, giggling babies, the atmosphere is impeccable. On the other side of things rain and thunder brings an even stronger high for me. It comes from a childhood memory of mine. 

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      It was the true dead of night, everyone in my house was in the deepest of sleep. My mom couldn't sleep due to the enormous thunderstorm that had emerged. She first woke my brother, and I was second to be interrupted from my sleep. She dragged us outside, she wanted only to play in the rain. Keep in mind she isn't the youngest, although she makes up by being young at heart. She took as both outside and had my brother push us both on the giant rope swing we have had ever since I was little. It was the most fun I had experienced in a long time.

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     I didn't think much of it at the time, but that experience would replay in my head every single time I would see a rain drop the rest of my life. With every rain drop the memory secures itself into my brain, over and over and over again. Let me explain why, my mom died when I was twelve. This is one of my favorite memories of her, happy and laughing, doing something ridiculous as usual. As hard as it is to face losing my mom, I'm happy to know that she has turned a potential debilitating disease into the opposite for me. For me, it's joy. I'm happy to know that whenever I seem to stray a little too far off the path, a simple rain drop can pull me back on the trail.