Childhood Memories

Isn't it great how a smell or taste can trigger memories from your childhood? I was thinking the other day about my grandmother and pictured her at the sink doing her dishes after dinner. I remembered that she used Ivory Snow dish detergent and I loved the smell of it. Just remembering that scent gave me such a clear view of how she looked and how much I loved being in her house. She had a beautiful house in the woods near the beach and there were so many fun and interesting things to see around her house. Everytime we visited we would take a walk down to the beach and take a look at the Chesapeake Bay. When we came back we would have a little snack of wheat crackers and Lemondade. I looked at the store the other day to try and find the same kind of dish detergent so I could constantly remember her but they didn't have it. I can't believe something as minor as a dish detergent can make me so sad. I wish I had that piece of her now.

On a lighter and similar note, I had a little bit of honey yesterday and it reminded me of a trip my parents took me on when I was a child. They took me to a place where honey was produced and I can just picture the entire inside of the building with all the beehives. I can see it but can't remember all the details since I was pretty young.

I'm amazed that we can gather all these memories through our lives and they shape us into the people we are. I think we all need to focus on each individual day to create memories that will have an impact on the people around us. I'm going to start working on this and using this to make our holidays relaxing, fun and memorable.