Moments

For some things I have an excellent memory.   I may not be able to tell you who the 23rd president was or what the word for tortoise is in spanish.  Wait I know that one...tortuga.  The point is there is a lot I don't know.  There is a lot I once knew but have forgotten and there is much I never knew.  I do remember more than the average person when it comes to some things though.  I can tell you the exact layout of both my grandmother's homes down to the last stick of furniture.  I can remember almost every toy I laid a hand on as a child.  I remember places, people and things from the past with such scary detail. 

We all have childhood memories of course but I remember the most mundane things in such detail that it seems strange.  What else seems odd is how far back I can remember.  I have pictures from when I was very little and I don't just remember taking that picture but I remember that day.  I remember much of what I said and did and the feel of things I put my hands on.  The clothes I was wearing and how I felt about those clothes.  I can recall pictures from books I looked at and details from those books.  Some things will naturally stand out in a child's mind but other things seem so unimportant.

There is food I ordered at restaurants when I was five and the fact that we went to the store across the parking lot after we ate.  I can recall the things I saw in that store.  Road signs, music, homes along the highway, people, the layout of tables & chairs, the food they offered at the buffet and not just on this one visit but several visits.  It's hard to explain but it doesn't seem normal.  Ian definately thinks it's a little strange.  His memories seem to not be as detailed but perhaps that is a guy thing.  I have a point.  If I can remember things like that from my childhood will I be able to remember my children's childhood like that?

If you were a fly on a wall around here you would here my tell Ian often, "Shhh we are having a moment."  What does that mean exactly?  It means something is happening that I don't want to forget and I need things to slow down, stop even.  I need to concentrate on what is happening and burn it into my mind so that I can have the gift of remembering it always.  That is what it is to me, a gift.  If I could remember my children's lives the way I remember my own so far wouldn't that be wonderful.  I wouldn't think twice about giving up all that I remember and replacing it with their firsts and the sweet everyday moments.

I think, I know that I'm too busy.  There are to many responsibilites, opportunities and just junk filling up my brain these days to remember these moments like I would like to.  I hope to take the time every so often to record these things so if my memory doesn't record them I can at least look back on them.  I'm not sure what format this will take on.  Tomorrow I will do a Moments post.  I'm looking forward to it.  :)