Store Your Happy Memories Here:

[Croix]

Dear All~

What this place is for:
This thread is a tool, a resource, and also I guess a dash of entertainment.

I’ve found that when life is grim that sometimes thoughts of past happiness can create a chink of light in the grey overwhelming press of down. They can help occupy the mind with lighter reflections.

With that in view I invite people to set down a brief passage describing some happy event they look back to with fondness and peace.

They - and others too - can then return to it when they feel the need to glean a little warmth.

It is not a place for gloomy or dire tales, those can go elsewhere.

What to do:
Just set out, as simply as you like, your recollection of some past experience that means something good to you, something you enjoyed, something from safe times.

It can be, like my story below, anything – from an account of visiting grandparents to simply cooking and eating a melted-cheese sandwich in a favorite kitchen – you get to choose.

How to do it:
Write. Write enough so someone else can feel the mood, know what happened, find the goodness. (stop at 2,500 characters please!)

Grammar, syntax, spelling, punctuation are not compulsory, just write as you can – the only important thing is the content - not literary merit. Short or long - it does not matter.


I hope you enjoy, contribute and find a little distraction here when you need it.

Croix

[Guest_1055]

Some glimpses of childhood happy memories at the beach.

...sliding down large sand hills on pieces of cardboard ...

...Searching and collecting long strands of dry grass in amongst the sand dunes. Then attempted to weave them together...

...Sitting in the wet sand near the waters edge, digging and making sand castles. And constructing sand walls around my castle in hope that it would be protected by any large wave....

....Collecting shells and some were tiny cone shaped ones, that often had an even smaller hole on the top of them. I then thread the shells onto string or fishing line. I cannot remember which....

....and carefully picking up packed sand, it was sort of dried and stuck together somehow. I pretended they were biscuits....

[White_Rose]

Some bits and pieces.

Sitting in the cinema with the love of my life (not husband) with his arm around my shoulders and a feeling of safety, comfort and above all, being loved.

Watching my eldest child take her first step and the look of pride on her face.

All the times I have held my babies, feeling their small weight and looking into their eyes. The wonder of such a small being coming into my life and the joy he or she has brought.

A mouse once decided to run into the house (we lived in the country) and ran up the door post to escape whoever was standing there. Sliding door was slammed shut which left the mouse hanging by its tail. Quick, get the cat. He's inside, Quick put him by the door. Look of what the.. on the cat's face. Open the door. Mouse runs downs. Cat spots him and changes from a sit by the fire cat to a hunter. Vale mouse.

[The_Abyss]

Oh, Mary - I had to laugh at that, and it reminded me of dinner in Italy....

We had been on the move for a few weeks when we ended up in a little town in the north of Italy. It was a converted convent, a few hundred years old, and all we could afford was an attic room. My husband wasn't feeling well, so stayed in the room to sleep, while I headed downstairs to eat dinner alone. There was a log pile nearby and a roaring fire, a cosy ambience to the room.

I like to people-watch, and a couple at the next table held my attention. Glancing down, I noticed a little nose and a pair of ears sticking out from behind the women's handbag. A crumb was dropped, and the little nose became a full body, as the bold little mouse collected its bounty and scampered for cover. He was soon back out, running along the wall, trying to stay hidden. Again he ended up behind the women's bag.

I attracted the attention of the waiter (who I had been conversing with earlier in the evening as I waited for my meal). I pointed toward the intruder, and with a straight face, he put his finger to his lips - "shh". I watched with fascination this little creature's antics, afraid it would climb into the woman's bag.

The couple eventually left and I was again alone with the waiter. I asked about the mouse. "It is a very old building, we can't possibly keep them out"! The little intruder eventually made his way to the wood pile where he disappeared from view.

I wandered back to my room where my husband had managed to set off the fire alarm with steam from the bath...but that's another story!

[White_Rose]

Thanks TA. We all laughed about that one It was so full of drama.

I'm sure there are plenty of mouse stories. My children would bring home the school mouse during the holidays and I am surprised it survived both the cats and did not have a heart attack. It was in a glass cage so the cats could see it and they spent a long time trying to get in. Fortunately the cats did not think to push the cage over. They certainly had lots of cunning about getting into things.

My husband had the habit of not shutting the dressing table drawer when he got things out and it annoyed me to see his tee shirts hanging. One day I was so fed up I slammed the drawer shut. A few seconds later the drawer started to open slowly by itself. Not the rebound from me slamming it shut. Oh no, there was a furry body behind it. The cat had decided to have her kittens in the drawer below, taking advantage of husband's sloppy habits. She had managed to push the top drawer open herself. I'm surprised I hadn't brained her.

Anyway I found a new home for the kittens and had a good laugh at my husband's expense as his clothes were all dirty. Yes I washed them after he had seen the debris, but it was worth it.

[The_Abyss]

Beautiful!

[Quercus]

Green grass. Barefoot. Sun shining off the water. Boats in the distance. Presents on a table.

Smell of sausages sizzling and the pop of beer bottles opening. Kids chasing seagulls. Laughter.

Parents sprawled out. Blades of grass in hair. Grubby faces and sauce on little fingers. Dads giving horsey rides. Wrestling. Laughing.

How they have grown! How your belly has grown!

A pause in time. Nothing exists in this moment but us. A celebration of time passed and anticipation of experiences to come.

[The_Abyss]

I have really enjoyed reading everyone's "bits and pieces" on this page over the past few days. They brought forth many of my own memories.

This one however is for Croix......

Back to the convent with the little attic room ......

I have always had a belief in ghosts, ever since I was a small child. I have had some that have scared me and others that protected me. I even had one wake me once to let me know my baby was having an asthma attack and needed urgent care! But, back to the convent.....

The converted convent was a few hundred years old and a rabbit warren of twists and turns. It also was known to be haunted. It had a few different elevators over many floors, but the one closest to our attic room scared me too much to go in it alone, so I chose to use the one further away in a different part of the building.

You may remember from my earlier tale that my husband hadn't been feeling well and so had chosen to lay down while I went to dinner alone. After enjoying dinner with my mouse companion, I reluctantly headed to my room, still chuckling away to myself. Being afraid of the closer elevator, I trailed down the hall to the one at the end of the long and twisted corridors.

I jumped in to the elevator at the same time as a harried-looking hotel worker. Being the epitome of polite professional, he made small talk as we co-incidentally headed to the same floor....and slowed his rushed pace as we headed down the corridor in the same direction....and around the same corners....and landed outside the same door!

"Is this your room madam?". " Yes, is there a problem?" "The fire alarm has been triggered". "Oh! My husband is asleep in there..." Rushing to open the door, we discovered the room was thick with steam, and barely visible on the bed, my husband was snoring away...

Quickly ascertaining that was no fire, we tracked down the cause! Unable to work the bathtub tap, my husband had opted to run me a bath...by turning the shower on full and scolding!!! He had promptly gone back to bed! The bathroom was flooded, the air thick with steam and he was still sound asleep!

The harried worker turned the shower off and helped me clean things up, the snore still echoing through the fog! Tragedy averted, the worker left, and, after adding copious amounts of cold water, enjoyed a nice hot tub. Snuggling into bed sometime later, my husband finally roused enough to ask if I enjoyed my bath, completely oblivious to the night's entertainment!

[Jackson1994]

When I was younger, going to the Sunshine Coast for a holiday with my mum and my brother, going on a plane for the first time, mum spent a ridiculous amount of money on those stupid flavoured jelly beans at the airport because we kept hassling her and the minute we got on the plane my brother went to open the packet and it burst open onto the floor, so we picked them up and ate them anyway 😛

[Quercus]

Burnt red sand between my toes. Scorching sun. Smell of the seed pods on the trees overhead. Blue sky no clouds in sight. A rusty tin water tank plugged up with bits of plastic. A makeshift swimming pool! Excitement. Anticipation. Hurry up! Brown skin. White skin. Kids with a love of water in common. Climbing the Acacia tree and plunging into the water. Laughter transcends all language barriers.

A long row of truck tires set in red sand. A black rubber boundary. Home on one side. Men's land beyond. Bare feet. Running along the top. Jumping across the gaps.

Strong tanned arms reaching up to me. Flying! Flying! A prickly kiss through a scratchy beard. Dad's home! Riding home on shoulders. A gentle reprimand you cannot go on Men's land. Blue eyes. Promise me. My father. Protector. Ok Dad. Can I plait your beard? Deep deep laughter. Only if you put in ribbons too.

[CMF]

My siblings are quite a bit older than me, 14+ years, and were married and out of home while I was young. Every Sunday night they would come home for dinner, after dinner we would play UNO. It was the highlight of my week as I was quite lonely. Our kitchen table was white so if anyone placed their cards face down on the table you could see a slight reflection of the colour . Slight advantage to me at times.