What Memories Do You Hold on to - Good, Bad or Ugly?

Memories are triggered in many different ways.  Sometimes it is when you smell a fragrance your friend used to wear.  Or maybe a bad smell of food (cooked cabbage) that reminds you when your mother MADE you eat it.

Some memories are triggered by sounds  - especially music.   I think that most of us have the most vivid memories from our teen years or when we fell in love for the first time.

Each of us good and bad memories.  Hopefully, it is the good ones we hold on to and let the bad ones go.  But both types of memories have triggers.

And then there are pictures.  Pictures of when we were children.  Pictures of our first date, dance or graduation.  Pictures of long lost friends or family members.

The pictures below are ones I remember from my childhood.  Some of you will remember all of them.  Some of you will remember none of these items.  Some of you may wonder what we ever needed these things for!!  And some of us wish we still had them!

Share in the comment section if you remember any of these......

When you filled your car up with gasoline, you received a free glass.  It was exciting to collect the set

Do Fragrances or Music Trigger Special Memories for You?

Walking through the meadow, I could smell the wild lilies.  This was remarkable considering I know little to nothing about gardening and flowers.  But I do recognize the difference between a rose and a lily (most of the time). Fragrance always triggers memories for me as much as hearing a song from the past.  Especially Rock from the 60s and 70s like the ones played in What memories are triggered when you hear these songs?  

Today was a day of reflections and my walk in the quiet country was what this Type A gal needed. The potent smell of lillies took me back to the most beautiful wedding I ever witnessed - my daughter's.  

As mothers everywhere, we hope and certainly pray that our children will make us proud, and I am no exception. What surprised and blessed me was how incredible my daughter turned out. 

Watching her grow up and mature into a beautiful woman and mother, I am awed by her wisdom and trust I had a little something to do with that.  As a mom, you will relate to my heart-warming letter in Dear Daughter, Why Did You Turn Out this Way?


Continuing my walk I reflected on my life and the major turn it has taken these past few months.  For years, I was a charter member of the club for people who had low self-esteem or poor self-image yet could hide it well.  So well, in fact, no one ever guessed what had happened in my life, tainted by abuse,

What Is Your Favorite Holiday Memory?

The prompt for NaBloPoMo for today was:  "What is your favorite holiday memory? (And yes, you can pick any holiday, including your birthday)"  Well, TODAY is my birthday.  Another trip around the sun.  Another year to reflect on.  Another..... year. 

There are many memories each of us have of favorite birthdays.  My brother is twenty years older than me and has lived most of his adult life in South Africa.  When I was a little girl, I rarely saw him.  He and his family would come home to the U. S. every five to six years.  I missed him terribly and counted the days, weeks, months and years until I would see him again. When he was home for my birthday, it was a special day indeed. 

One Very Special Day

My absolute favorite memory of those special birthdays was when I turned ten.  My mother was gravely ill throughout my childhood which meant we did not do a lot of celebrating.  I was thrilled when she would be well enough to bake a cake for my birthday.  This was going to be one very special day.  She had made her famous German Chocolate Cake with the pecan and coconut icing.  It was a time-consuming, difficult cake to make and reserved for special occasions. 

A Special Father and Lessons Learned

In a small German village on New Year's Eve 1903, my father, William Frederick was born. He was the oldest of thirteen children. Life was challenging and after his brother was born, my grandfather traveled to the New World to work and save enough money to bring his family to America.

TRAVELLING AS STOW-AWAYS

The day came when Grandma and her two boys could travel across the seas to unite with Grandpa for a better life.   There was not enough money for the three of them to travel as passengers; my dad and his brother were stow-aways in the hull of the ship.  It was a three week journey with little food for the boys to share.  My father was four years old and would beg the kitchen staff for table scraps that had been thrown away.  He was reprimanded for asking and given nothing to eat.