I woke suddenly to the sound of a familiar voice calling my name. It took me a minute to realize my surroundings but it took me much longer to realize I wasn't dreaming. Except I had to be dreaming. There was absolutely no way that I could be here! The voice was coming from another room. I had been asleep on the couch or so it would seem. I got up slowly and quickly realized that my perception of what I was seeing of my surroundings was from a much shorter view. I mean I am not exactly breaking the record of being the tallest person on earth with my 5' 2 inch stature but this was definitely a much shorter level of sight! Wait! What are on my feet? Better yet, whose feet are those? I definitely was not wearing glittery pink jelly shoes the last time I can remember? I haven't seen a pair of those since the 80's! There's that voice again calling me from the other room where I could also smell something baking that was amazingly familiar.
I apprehensively began to walk towards the voice and the smell. I felt like at any minute I could be abducted by aliens. What the heck had I eaten last night that would give me this type of vivid dream? I would most definitely be waking from this shortly I thought to myself. I turned the corner and couldn't believe what I was seeing. It was my grandmother! She was so young! She was taking a silver rectangular tray out of the oven. A sight I had seen her do so many times when she was making homemade pizza. As soon as she put the tray down to cool I ran to her and hugged her so tight I thought I might break her!
My grandmother passed away a few years ago just short of 95 years old. It was incredible to see her this young; to see her at all! She hugged me back but seemed a little confused as she asked me if I was feeling okay. Which I suppose was a totally reasonable question to ask since I was acting as if I hadn't seen her in ages. Which in all reality, I hadn't.
Reality? Reality.
Yeah, now there's a word that I was most certainly questioning right about now. I told her I just had a strange dream because there was no way I could tell her what I thought was happening. Although I wasn't exactly sure what that was anyway. She asked if I would help her take the laundry off the clothesline.
Oh my gosh! I couldn't believe it. That was something I loved doing when I was a little girl. Something I remembered so vividly. I followed her to the bathroom where the clothesline was located just outside of the window and that connected from the window to a large tree in the backyard. I would stand on a stool to reach the clothes. My grandmother does a double take while looking at me and says, "Didn't I tell you not to put that lipstick on? It takes forever to try to take off of you." I jumped off the stool to catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror above the sink. I almost fainted! The face looking back at me was someone I hadn't seen in a very long time. It was the face of a young girl. The face of a 9 year old me! Olive skinned, with long dark hair and sure enough, Revlon Red lips! I so loved opening up my grandmother's medicine cabinet and taking out that black tube of lipstick where I would carefully look into the mirror while gliding it onto my lips. I always felt so glamorous. That is until I would get scolded for doing it. But that never stopped me.
This can't be happening, but if it was I was going to enjoy every second of it.
I was in awe of everything I was looking at. The bathroom with the black and white checkered, tile floor, the kitchen that was everything I can remember from my childhood with the big white stove that looked like it was out of a vintage magazine. Then I heard, "Go outside and play now." she said. Outside! Yes! I couldn't wait to see if it was everything I remembered. Things had changed dramatically over the years and never felt quite as large as it did when I was a child. However, sure enough, it was exactly what I remembered it to be and loved when I was younger. The small patio just outside the screen door with a small chair just my size. At least the size I was at nine years old anyway. I started to explore the yard, gravitating towards everything I found familiar. Then it hit me.
I ran into the corner of the back yard and there it was, just as I remembered. The lilac bush. There are a few things that will always stand out to me from my childhood and one is the smell of the lilacs in my grandmother's yard. The aroma to me is intoxicating and always takes me back to this time in my life. While I was mesmerized by all of this I began to hear them. Off in the distance was the sound of the church bells. It was from the church down the street. This was another significant experience that would follow me through my life. The comforting sound of the church bells. I decided to sit under the shade of the huge oak tree and listen to the bells chime and get lost in everything I was experiencing until I heard my name again being called. This time it was my mother's voice.........to be continued....
What is your memory lane?
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