Recipe for a Memory

The sand was warm, the sun was high and the sound of surf rang in my ears; I was feeling confident as I squeezed into that inflatable ring.  I can see the look on my sister's face; one of concern. I can hear my mom sipping her cola through the colorful plastic straw that stuck out of the chilled aluminum can. But mostly, I remember the words of my dad, "We can do this. You can do this--it's not that far out there." And here is the clincher that sealed the deal... "If you swim out there with me, you can pick anything you want off the menu at Farrell's."  That was it, I was sold.

So goes one of my favorite childhood memories.  It's one of the pieces of my life puzzle that still today I can remember so well.  Maybe it's that we talk about it every so often.  Or that when we gather as an extended family and those old slides come out, I relive it all over again.  Either way, it's something that I recall with fondness-- the day I "swam" (ok it was more like "floated") out to that bobbing platform in the Pacific Ocean off the warm and safe beach in Hawaii that my family was pleasantly sunning themselves upon.

I was 5 at the time.  And if you do the math, that was a long time ago. What is it about memories that stir us? Shape us? I know for me, there was all the makings of what I now know creates a good memory: travel, family (or others that I share my travel with), and some other element. In this case, fear and reward.  I was not a good swimmer and I was faced with a challenge that I was quite afraid of.  That  fear and the success of overcoming it and subsequent reward that followed was most likely the most powerful element in this story/memory.

What is your "recipe" for a good memory?

~Reggie

P.S.  While writing this blog I researched Farrell's and discovered that their Hawaii location has returned!  They have removed Kathy's Pink Surprise  from their revised menu, but they suggest "Step through our doors... Step back in time..." Hmmm. They may be on to something.

http://farrellshawaii.com/