Memories are Made of This

Now that I finally got a clear glass mug, I will drink more tea.  In my quest to give up coffee for various reasons, one being acid reflux, I bought a variety of herbal tea.  I like tea, and have enjoyed drinking it in the past, but once I began drinking coffee my tea intake significantly went down.  I’ve had a hard time switching to tea in the morning, but as I said, I bought a clear glass mug today and now it will work.

It just doesn’t seem right when I am drinking it out of a coffee cup.  Aren’t we strange like that?  Growing up I drank peppermint tea with Great Grandma in her clear mugs.  Then after she passed I spent many years drinking tea at my aunt’s house in clear glass mugs.  I have so many fond memories of those wonderful ladies that involve drinking tea.  So that’s the way it has to be.  It will work now.

It’s so crazy how so many emotions can be attached to the simplest things.  An onion reminds me of how my uncle used to call me “onion head” and a flood of memories follows: a jar with an onion that I kept until it was so rotten I couldn’t look at it anymore, a set of MC Escher cards, and listening to him playing guitar.

The word “citation” takes me back to my first vehicle: the 1981 Chevy Citation.  However, what it really does is remind me of how loving and generous my grandpa was. He bought me that car and the next few consecutive ones, and paid the insurance.  He wanted me to have transportation so I didn’t have to rely on anyone for rides.

A weeping willow tree brings all the memories of the many, many hours I spent at my other aunt’s house, growing up with my cousin-swinging on the branches, getting semis to honk and playing hide-and-seek-all the fun we had when she wasn’t torturing me.

There are many other things that stop my mind in its tracks and send me back in time.  Sometimes I am blessed with feeling the same emotions I did back then.

So whether it’s a mug, an onion, a weeping willow, or a specific word, what seemingly insignificant items take you to another place and time with a flood of memories?