What I would capture

Smells and moments...amazing what our brain remembers!  Just a few weeks ago I was with my mom in a showroom in Dallas, I was smelling candles.  Some were nice, some not so nice, but I picked up one candle and it smelled of pine...a light, almost Christmas-y smell.  All of a sudden I was transported back to childhood, to a book my brother and I had about Bambi! It was a scratch and sniff book, and there was one page that had a pine sticker that you could scratch and sniff, it was meant to smell of the forest where Bambi was born.  I hadn't thought of that book in probably 25 years, but I could see it clear as day when I smelled that candle and could remember sitting on the floor reading the book day after day.

There are moments in life as well, that I'm sure my brain has captured but I just can't remember where they are stored.  Why is it I remember ridiculous bits of information, like what I wore the first day of school when I was in 1st grade, but can't remember a PIN number that I use often? I wonder sometimes, when I grow old, if a simple smell, sound, or image will take me back to a certain moment in time.  If so, here are some things I'd like to remember forever:

Hugs from my Dad
A cup of coffee with my Mom
My brother's laugh
A kiss from my husband
A joke told by Brandon
Jonathon's cute little lisp and the way he says certain words
The way Nathan's whole face scrunches up when he laughs
Sophia holding my face in her hands and saying, "My Mommy"

And then of course there's...playing ridiculous amounts of card games with my boys, running through Guatemala City in the rain with Jeff and our huge backpacks, seeing the kids' faces light up on Christmas morning, seeing my Dad hug/kiss my Mom, laughing maniacally and being sarcastic with my brother, watching as the kids take their first steps or say their first words, my first date with Jeff in his old, rusted out truck, rooming with my best friend in college, laughing with friends until we nearly wet our pants, the way I feel after reading a good book or watching a good movie, certain decisions made, the taste of a good cup of coffee, watching my brother get married, pedicures with my niece, shopping with my sisters-in-law, Machu Picchu...how could my list ever end? 

And have I mentioned hugs from my Dad???  Man that guy gives good hugs.