things that bring a smile

We've all been there.

Certain scents or songs that take us back to days when we were younger. Sometimes what jogs the memory is tempting, such as glimpses of Hostess twinkies in the store, which used to be my after-school snack as a kid. Ok, maybe not the healthiest of snacks, but I had a cool Mom who let me eat them.

Other memory joggers?

Chocolate milk. I can remember pouring it into Dad's coffee cups with my sisters and pretending we were drinking coffee. The creamy tan beverage was a symbol of being an adult, wise beyond our years.

Station wagons. I still remember the wood-paneled wagon my parents used to drive, with the backseat that faced traffic behind us. We spent miles and miles waving to drivers, who often waved back.

Toast. It reminds me of the toast my mother used to butter and bring to me on a plate while I fixed my hair before school each morning. Of course, it tasted like hairspray by the time I ate it, but it was the thought that counts.

The smell of chlorine. Reminds me of summer days when we swam all day long, only to wake up and do it again, even though our suits hadn't dried from the day before.

White deposit slips in the back of a checkbook. I used to beg my mom and dad for those little slips from time to time, and pretend to write checks with money I did not have.

Giant caramel-filled chocolate candy bars. Every once in a while I come across these, and they remind me of the bars I sold as an 8th grader for fundraisers. I carried them around in the little cardboard box they were shipped in, and inevitably had to tell my dad that we owed money for the two that I ate.

Wallpaper. We don't have any in our home, but I remember writing on my butterfly wallpaper with a pen as a child, hiding it with pillows on my bed so I wouldn't get in trouble.

Good times.