A field of Memories

     Isn't it funny how the smallest things can take you back, to a moment, to a memory, to a field of dreams you once had.
    There are certain songs that in an instant teleport me to different times in my life. Ridiculous songs from the early ninety's such as "C'mon N' Ride it (The Train)" by Quad City DJ , or Cotton Eye Joe  can take me back to the first dance I ever attended. Reminding me how nervous I was walking in, not sure where my friends were, and everyone was doing the dance to C'mon N' Ride it. Some random person grabbed my hand and pulled me in and there I was, dancing my first "dance" at my first official dance. Through out my middle school years Sarah, Kyleigh, and occasionally a few other people went to so many of these dances at the Tringali Center. There was a lot of fun, a lot of ridiculous dancing, and of course a lot of boys. I can listen to these songs now and look back and laugh at how silly we were as young pre-teen girls, but remember fondly all the fun we had. Later, once we'd out grown really GOING to the dances, we worked them for community service through the Jay-Teens program and that is a whole other chapter of my life that I remember fondly. Those of course are not the only memory provoking songs, any pop-female song from the 80's such as "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" by Cindi Lauper, can take me into many car rides with Sarah in which we blared our 80-mix fun CD's. Or "Count On Me" by Default, the first song Chris ever told me made him think of me. Not your typical "love" song but it's our song, and I can't hear it without smiling at the memories it brings me. Christina Aguilera's "Fighter" has always been my go to song when I needed to be reminded that I am strong enough to get through the things life has thrown at me. During a time when I have been worried about losing my grandparents, and also thinking to the grandparents I have already lost Miranda Lambert's The House that Built Me and FM Static's "Tonight" remind me of the support I was given growing up by my amazing grandparents (on my dads side), and though I didn't appreciate how great a loss it was to my life when my moms parents passed away.. I am reminded of the things my grandma did with my brother and I, the ways she tried to bring us little bits of happiness she never gave to my mom. The point is, the power of song is amazing. The memories it can remind you of, the feelings it can provoke, the thoughts it can make you think, it's all just.. powerful. Music is the language of love, the language of our souls, the thing that connects across any language barrier.

 Music isn't the only thing that can take you, or well more specifically me, back and remind us of things from our past. There are pictures that speak a thousand words, and with one look can bring back entire chunks of my life. Smells that in an instant make me feel as if my grandma, who admittedly I wasn't even that close to, is right here next to me. Or a smell that can make me feel like I've come home. So many things, that when we slow down, allow ourselves to be present in the here and now and not so focused on the future, can remind us of where we've been and how we've gotten just where we are.