takes me back

there are certain things that will spark my memory and take me right back to childhood. whether it be an old country song, a familiar children's book or an old toy. sometimes the smell of coffee or the taste of my grandma's buns with her homemade strawberry jam are enough to recover those innocent days.

i often wonder what objects/events/smells these will be for river. will a whiff of a certain perfume take him back to being left with the babysitter while josh and i go on a date? what song will prompt him to recall riding in the backseat on a family road trip? it is exciting for me to ponder these things and sometimes it affects the little choices i make throughout the day - the book i choose to read to him or the fact that we nap in the hammock rather than on the couch. they may not hold the same significance for him someday as they do for me, but the mind is a powerful tool and i know that he will remember bits and pieces when he's an adult.

there is one keepsake that i recently inherited that provokes this kind of sentimentality:

last week we made a trip up north to visit our new niece mattie and for river to meet his great grandma 'mimi'. while at mimi's she asked if i recalled her old lion*, the one that i used to ride as a toddler. she had considered selling it at her last rummage sale but said i had come to mind before she could get rid of it.

he was an important character in my childhood - one that i may have forgotten about as i became an adult but as soon as i touch his smooth spine and rippled mane he takes me right back to the days when he was larger than life and it took all my energy to lift my little legs to mount him.

cousins river and mirinda taking him for a spin

 

due to my penchant for nostalgia (and awesomeness) this cat has now taken up residence in our living room. and i hope that river takes as much enjoyment in him as i did 25+ years ago.

*my grandpa purchased it for her at reed's drugstore circa 1980. (interesting fact for my fellow grand rapidsians)