Mementoes ...

  

The word “Memento” instantly evokes memories of a brilliant movie; in which the protagonist [Guy Pearce] is afflicted by Short Term Memory [STM] loss.
So how does he cope?
By making copious notes, collecting photographs & even resorting to imprinting tattoos on his body … in short … gathering mementoes … a surefire way to aid *recall* through association …
Did it work?
Absolutely!!!

Time is such a fleeting element … it passes by … just like that … and sooner than we realize … everyday bitter-sweet moments … if not revisited … simply fades away ... Faces and places … Cozy homes and dingy spaces … Laughter and tears … Hot food and cold beers …. Friends and strangers … Summer vacation and looming dangers …Tiny bits of moments … Soon become another time another day another year …. So … freeze the moments … make them last forever … in golden-gray memorabilia …
[Ahh … my rhymes suck … I know … well whatever]

  
Now getting back to the issue of memorabilia … photo-albums & scrap-books ... make the best mementos … and add to these … small little notes n comments; sometimes pressed flowers, ticket-stubs and viola you get trigger-happy slices of life back ! Their immense power overwhelm us with nostalgia … sometimes making us blush … sometimes cheering us up … sometimes spurring us to make a few phone calls to long lost friends … Photos of family-trips, countryside picnics, class-friends & festivals … are always delightful ... I often pick up my parents old albums, though pictures have faded … but its still such a pleasure to see … mom’s long lustrous hair, dad’s slim-handsome looks … uncles’ n aunts … old fashion with strange hairdos …

Apart from photographs; some people collect other interesting mementoes. Like ...
# Buy a new novel for every trip and neatly scribbling the date & destination
# Some buy T-shirts; with catchphrases representative of the city: “I love New York” ... “Miami-The Sunshine City” ... “Chicago-My Kind of City” ….
# Picture-post cards are also very popular
# Some collect tokens like coins & currency-notes ...

  

In fact the crafty city-planners make sure that every tourist attraction exits to a *Gift Shop* … where you can buy souvenirs … like caps, flags, books, picture frames, picture postcards, maps, pendants, T-shirts, Coffee mugs , Key rings …
And … the last two are my favorites’!!! I have been collecting … Coffee Mugs and Key Rings … for a loooong time now and I’m extremely fond of them.
My three favorite are:
# A coffee-mug from Oxford; which has emblems of different universities
# A key-ring from Stratford-Upon-Avon, the birthplace of Shakespeare
# A coffee-mug from Ford Museum, Detroit

The trick is to have these souvenirs small, affordable, non-perishable & low-maintenance … that can be stashed away for long periods of times but resurface unscathed ... I think school ties, badges & report-cards … make for excellent mementoes!!!

  

Mostly we collect mementoes & souvenirs; but store them at such inaccessible places that they are as good as forgotten. Like albums saved in cupboards, objects packed in boxes and stored in basement … maybe along with shoeboxes.
But I feel … as long as they are safe ... we may still visit them.

*** This post is a result of my cleaning the house. I came across these objects I've been collecting for some time now. Though I was a bit hesitant about posting them ... but then I thought I could share these ...
Moments – here today – gone tomorrow
Mementoes last forever ...

Memories, pressed between the pages of my mind
Memories, sweetened thru the ages just like wine
Quiet thought come floating down
And settle softly to the ground
Like golden autumn leaves around my feet
I touched them and they burst apart with sweet memories, Sweet Memories!