Remember and Smile

Yesterday I was talking with a friend about smells and sounds that take you back to another time, usually a time that can only be revisited in your mind. Most of the time these are sweet memories that make us smile at the pictures in our heads. Other times these moments of remembrance can be a cruel reminder of a time best forgotten.

All it took was a word yesterday to set my teeth on edge. Soon after I curled up in a fetal position and cried myself to sleep. That won't happen again. I will be prepared next time,

But this morning it was a different sound that piqued my memories. I have been away from home for a few days, so the morning sounds are different. I sat by a window five stories up, and as I drank my morning coffee I heard this far away, lonesome sound of a train whistling its way past the byways and through this southern city.

Oh, how I love that sweet, lonesome sound! I am immediately taken to my childhood, visiting my grandmother in a southern Texas town. She lived just two blocks from a railroad track, and at night when all was still, in my bed, I would listen to the many trains passing through, whistling its warning as it passed over the street. I loved being at grandma's house, so this sound remains sweet and precious in my mind and heart.

I have other memories that sounds and smells trigger. What triggers your memories? Is it the smell of burning leaves, a warm summer rain, the sight of hollyhocks along the side of a road? Don't neglect those precious thoughts that take you back. It's good to remember and smile.