Memories....in the corner of my mind.

Do you have anything that evokes a conscience memory of someone, something or another place in time?

There are a couple of things that do this for me and its weird little things that make my memories come flooding back. What little of them I do have (side note: Chuck thinks it’s weird I have very few memories before I was 10’ish. Do you have early childhood memories? What’s the earliest strong memory you have?)

Dannon “Fruit-on-the-Bottom” yogurt. This is really what spawned this blog post because I actually bought some of this for the first time, well…ever. I always buy the Fit and Light ones because I *try* to be health conscience most of the time. But, this time I bought the full-flavored one for Elizabeth since I also try not to give my kids copious amounts of aspartame before they are 3 or so. (I don’t know why…I just don’t think it’s good for little bodies to have unnatural substances.) But back to the yogurt, when I was growing up I had a best friend named Catherine. As I was eating one of these yogurts today I was instantly reminded of her. It was like I was transformed back to 3rd grade and I’m sitting there at the cafeteria table with my Strawberry Shortcake lunchbox and she with her brown bag lunch. In her lunch she ALWAYS had a peanut butter banana sandwich (sometimes she’d have cold pizza), chips, 2 chocolate chip cookies and a Dannon Fruit-on-the-Bottom yogurt. Cath moved away when I turned 15 so even after all this time, I still have those memories. Brought on by yogurt.

I’m also very stimulated by smells. Ask Chuck. He thinks its hilarious how smell oriented I am in just about everything in my life. Each of my kids have their own “smell-spot” which is right behind their ears at their hairline. They have their own distinctive smell even though they use the same soap and shampoo. Chuck has a “smell-spot” too…in the same place and it, too, is unique to him.

One of the smells that triggers memories for me is the kids’ coconut shampoo. When I worked at camp, I used coconut shampoo. One day as Chuck and I are laying in bed he told me how much he loved the scent of my hair and that coconut was one of his favorite scents. From then on, I made sure that I always bought coconut shampoo for that whole summer. Everytime I smell the kids’ shampoo, it’s like I’m transported back in time and showering on a Saturday afternoon for my date night with Chuck in Arapahoe Lodge. I can smell the coconut now.

Songs can also create vivid pictures in my mind. On the way to work today, I was listening to hubby’s classic rock station (I’m normally a country or pop girl myself) and “Me and Bobby McGee” came on by Janis Joplin. I started to smile and sing along. I was totally picturing myself as a sophomore in college. Rooming with my best friend, Sandy, getting ready to out to the bar at 10:30 at night (OMG, that’s past my bedtime now!). We’d be dancing around, half-clothed usually, using hair brushes as microphones, singing at the top of our lungs to Janis Joplin. Just the thought of it makes me smile.

Yes, I realize I’m weird. But I’m sure I’m not the only one.