Time Travel Fantasies

I've always been interested in the idea of time travel, reading about it and seeing it on film, and the idea of actually doing it myself. It's a fantasy I've had since childhood.

I can remember sitting in history classes during my school years and imagining going back in time and how I'd convince them that I was actually from the future and not insane. I'd visualized meeting famous people and telling them how they affected history and how they are remembered in the future. I especially liked indulging in this fantasy at bedtime, as a creative alternative to counting sheep.

After my mother died, my time travel fantasies increasingly turned to imagining visiting my ancestors and telling them what had happened in the family since that time. Though I've imagined visiting several different ancestors, there are two specific "visits" I usually make.

In one fantasy, I go back to around 1940, to my mother's home to visit with her and my grandparents. My mother was sixteen then, and it would be two years before she would meet my father. My grandparents were in their late thirties, and their last child would not be born until four years later.

It would always begin with me knocking on the front door. Naturally, I was a stranger to them at first, but they would notice the family resemblance, without realizing just what it was. I'd tell them who I was, then drag out family picture I'd brought along to prove it. The pictures would include ones from their past, their present, their future, and those from my life. Slowly, they'd begin to believe, and invite me into the house.

I'd sit around the kitchen table, while my grandmother bustled around making lunch for us as we talked. I'd tell them how their lives would go in the future, and the main points of future history: how WWII transpired, presidents, etc. Sometimes, I'd bring along a history book to show them. Then I'd move on and tell how the world had changed and all that had been invented. But I'd always stop just before I'd tell them when and how they'd died. I always felt it would be better if they didn't know.

In the other fantasy, I'd return to 1970, the last full year of my mother's life. I'd always show up one day when everyone else was out of the house, when she'd be there alone. Because I was already alive as my 12 year old self, convincing her of my identity was different. I'd bring along a series of photos of myself, from babyhood, then including pictures of me from every year forward, so she could see the progression of change to my appearance. She would invite me in, and we'd sit around the kitchen table, where I would fill her in on what the family had done in future years, while also telling her how the world had changed. Sometimes, I was even able to bring her forward for a visit into the future where she could see the changes for herself. I'd enjoy her amazement at seeing computers, cell phones, and so on for the first time. Sometimes, I'd tell her that her time on Earth was short, sometimes not.

I still engage in these time travel fantasies occasionally, especially when I'm having trouble getting to sleep.

Thoughts?