Aroma of Memories

I smelled a memory smell today…
It is spring and I ride in my Jeep, perhaps a bit early in the season, with the top off…
The neighborhood was quiet and calm in the evening hours…
The wind pulled at my skin like an old friend…
Honeysuckle vines wrapped themselves around every fence and sprig within its grasp…
The aroma of springtime in my youth…
I had to pull over in a quiet street to feel the whispers of my childhood that surrounded my senses…
With every breath, I tasted my innocence…
I tasted the freedom of my new bicycle…
I tasted the touch of my mother as we sat in the freshly manicured lawn in my backyard…
I could feel the warmth of my pajamas that fought with my wet hair from a warm bath…
I heard the giggles of laughter of my friends that engulfed our neighborhood… our world…
I tasted the perfume of my grandmother as she patted my leg and the scruff of my grandfather’s whiskers as he kissed my cheek good-bye…
I could hear the rain that rumbled across the sky outside of my bedroom… my place of safety…
I tasted the sunshine on my face as I caressed my cat as she lay napping by my backdoor…
I seek out these aromas of memories and store them in my mind’s vault…
When I find them, or they find me, I take time to reflect and taste the warmth of my youth and my loved ones…

Shannon R Killman