It happens when you hear a certain song.
Sometimes, it is an all too familiar smell that does the job.
Or, it is the way someone walks. Or the way they tilt their head or the things they say.
Or even as far as something that sat in your kitchen growing up that you completely forgot about until you see it.
Then, the memories, oh my goodness, the memories come rushing in and no dam or levee can stop it and you don’t want them to.
A cookie jar.
Yep, a cookie jar that I saw recently took me back to my childhood and immediately made me think about my mom. It was eerie in a very amazing way that I fully have yet to figure out.
A cookie jar that sat on the counter in the kitchen for my entire childhood that I had forgotten about.
I had not thought about this cookie jar in probably 30 years. Longer if I really sat down and tried to figure it out.
Look familiar? This cookie jar was probably in all of our houses growing up.
I was walking through and saw it and stopped. “Joey,” I heard my mom’s voice in my head, “Finish dinner and there are cookies in the kitchen.” I stopped and was frozen.
“Let me guess,” the guy said who owned this cookie jar and saw this silent and perplexed look that had settled upon my face, “This reminds you of your mom.”
I looked at him and said, “How in the world did you know?” He smiled back and said, “It did the exact same thing to me.”
A cookie jar.