Popular belief has it that the universe is comprised of atoms. In reality, the universe is actually made up of…
If you are fortunate or unfortunate, whichever the case may be, to live as long as I, you will discover that the past becomes little more than a confustication of events which have been divorced from the depth of time and in that jumbled mental mix, you may find that you occasionally misplace those you love. My mother is one such person.
Her face is all but forgotten and the sole recollection I have is a time when I fell into her arms and inhaled the scent of her shampooed hair. I was aware of how fast her heart was beating against my chest. Why? I cannot rightly recall but I felt her tears washing down my face which let loose the flood that had been building up inside me.
Many has been the time I attempted to plant my feet in the soil of that instance in order to explore the reason for our tears and excavate other buried memories of my mother but the moment always passes too quickly.
All that lingers is her scent.
MADD FICTIONAL 
It’s horrible when you can’t remember a loved one that you haven’t seen in a long time especially when they’re no longer alive and there are no pictures to refresh your memory. So sad and so beautifully written.
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It most certainly is horrible, Suranne. I’ve never been a big picture taker or collector and I’m paying the price for it now because so many faces have vanished in the mists of time.
Thank you for the compliment.
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I have an auntie that I barely remember but we must have had good times together because I miss her. Isn’t that strange?
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That’s funny because I have an uncle like that but no one in my family knows who I’m talking about but I swear I’m not making him up.
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Having memories of a family member no one else remembers is fascinating.
I personally don’t believe in ghosts or reincarnation so I can’t speak spirit visitations or past lives remembrances, but could it have been a dream that you turned into a memory? Or a friend of the family you misremembered as your uncle?
Gimme the deets, my friend, I have to know more.
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My mother thinks it was a dream that I mixed up with a memory but I remember him clear as day and it wasn’t just one time and I wouldn’t have made up an old man as an imaginary friend, so I don’t know who he was but he was real.
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It may not be that strange or uncommon, Cuca, depending on how young you were when you last saw her. I read an article that dealt with childhood amnesia that stated memories below a certain age tend to fade unless they’re reinforced by constantly repeating them or turning them into a story.
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Good write. ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
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Thank you, Fernando, I’m glad you enjoyed it!
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Like you said we might replace or mix up with someone we love but isn’t it fortunate that you at least remember her scent.
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You live long enough and find that faces from the past do indeed fade with time, and there are certain scents that trigger teleportation back to a particular place or time that you haven’t thought about in years.
And I am infamous for combining two different events and misremembering them, or placing people at events they weren’t actually present for.
Funny how the mind works, isn’t it?
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It is quite fascinating to put things together which can never be together in reality
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This is so very lovely and poignant. I love the whole sad concept. Beautifully done! 👏👏👏
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Awfully kind of you to say, Peri. Thank you for the high praise!
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Beautiful and sad. Memories often lose their crispness and faces often fade. At times, the mind misconstrues actual events giving them an additional edge of imagination. I’ve seen that certain smells are never forgotten. They reside deep within. And if ever encountered again, the floodgates open and out rush the forgotten moments.
Deeply appreciate this piece, Rhyan. 🙂
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A study suggests that our memories aren’t the recorded facts we think they are. Instead, the events are recreated by our brain, updating the past with new information each time we revisit them and even when they’re miles apart from the actual events, we take them at face value and the fiction becomes fact.
Cheers for the compliment, Terveen.
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This transported me to the time when I was ten. My grandfather saw me reading an abridged addition of Oliver Twist and took out his copy of the original book from his library, soon you will be reading this and all the other books in my library. I don’t remember the rest of the conversation but those few words ignited a love for reading that still burns in me today. He passed away long time ago, but every time I pick a book, that little moment still comes to my mind: my Grandfather, his wooden bookshelf overridden with books and the Oliver Twist published by Everyman’s Library.
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I think it’s fantastic that you have such a wonderful memory of your grandfather and that memory ignited a passion that you indulge in to this very day. Thank you for sharing this precious moment from your past, as well as taking the time to read and comment…it’s very much appreciated!
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Interesting story.
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Thank you.
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