They are a bridge back to an idealized past we think existed but is actually in our head.

Their accounts of antebellum society became part of an idealized past.

It is significant that they interpreted this return to an idealized past in economic terms.

"Most believe that a satisfactory future requires a return to an idealized past, a past which never in fact existed."

Cardinal Dulles seems to be contrasting an idealized past with a present reality.

"It looks like an idealized 1950's, which is important since Ed wants to drift back to his idealized past," she said.

And like all nostalgia, it speaks to the longing for an idealized past.

Yet Walton lives in an idealized past that seems to have little to do with reality.

She's also the bridge between an idealized past and the chaotic, multiracial present.