I believe in memories. Drip, drip, drip, a noise so repetitive and powerful that it canceled out any background noise that could have been lingering around me, I lay on my bed listening to the rain hit the roof outside my ceiling and look out at the very dismal scenery that surrounded everywhere where my eyes could see. The clouds were an overwhelming mixture of grey haze, which made it almost impossible to see anything at all, only the faint outline of the trees silhouettes that surrounded the window of my bedroom could be distinguished. I turn my head and look up at the minty green paint covering my ceiling wall, a gaze so intense I find myself into almost a tiring trance when all of a sudden my mom’s loud, distinctive voice travels to my ears and brings me back to a normal state of mind. " Taylor, I need you to go to the basement and organize the books please!", my mood was not any bettered by this request, and I reply in a very annoyed tone, " Alright, Alright!", while rushing downstairs before my mom could stop me and tell me any more chores she has in mind for me to do.
I look around at the extremely unorganized space that surrounds me and I heavily sigh, a disapproving and very aggravated sound and then slowly make my way over to where the boxes of unorganized, dusty books were. A sensation of childhood memories penetrated my whole body and I hunch over eagerly and grabbed one box off the ground and move it to a spot where the carpet, a pale blue, green color mixture was visible, a very rare situation in this room. I sit down next to the box in a comfortable crisscross position and take one book out of the box at a time, each time blowing the thin layers of dust that attached itself to the covers of these memory holding bedtime stories. Book after book was being removed out of the box; the feeling of infinity was close to my thoughts, when my eyes came to a screeching halt, a reaction that made my eyes give a second look at one book in particular. The book that I was holding in my hands had a name that sent feelings to my heart that made it start beating faster and faster with excitement. “Love You Forever" by Robert Munch sent such comforting memories through my brain, and I suddenly remembered everything about it.
It’s incredible how only a few pieces of paper with a couple of words typed on each can make such a difference in a child’s life, that when there all grown up they can still remember every detail and feeling that they felt while it was being read to them, which is what exactly happened to me. I suddenly remembered being a little kid again, the feeling of excitement I would get when brushing my teeth, because would mean that bed time was near and that was the time my dad would read books to my brother and I till we were sound asleep.
After brushing our teeth my brother and I would race from the bathroom to the bedroom, a very short distance to me now but back then it was like racing around half of a track. After racing to the bedroom that my whole family use to share with each other, which was before my dad built our actual house right above it and filled the whole downstairs with garage sale items; the winner would get to choose what side they wanted for story time, I was usually the one who won, myself being one year older gave me the advantage that I was glad to have. After choosing sides and jumping into bed, my dad would make the bed by lifting the sheet all the way over our little heads and shaking it out while my brother and I were lying on opposite ends. My dad would tuck us in and let us pick the book we were going to read that night; gladly my brother and I were almost always in agreement. He then would get in the middle and begin the wonderful bed time stories, and "Love you forever" was one that was read many nights in a row.
Whenever my dad read it to us I would feel so safe, I’m not sure if it was the safe color yellow that covered the whole entire room, or the fact that my brother and it’s separate cribs were just a few steps away, or just the fact that my dad himself was there reading it to us, whatever the fact may be I felt safe and comforted and that was all that mattered to me at that moment. He would read the book over and over until both my brother and I were sound asleep; he would then carry us separately to our cribs and tuck us in goodnight. Me being the light sleeper that I am would always wake up when he was tucking me in my crib and I would say the quote “I love you forever I’ll like you for always, as long as I’m living, my baby you’ll be” then pass back out again.
It’s so unbelievable the way the brain works, it freezes the tiniest moments, and details and places an emotion or feeling with each frozen place in time that your brain has stored them somewhere in your head. The one quote my brain has surprisingly remembered I can still recite to this very day, even though the last time I heard it, it so many years ago. It’s shocking that every word of the quote I can recite perfectly, even though I wasn't even the one to recite it night after night, that job was all up to my dad who had an incredible imagination. While reciting it he would turn his voice so soft and start whispering the words to go along with the melody twinkle twinkle little star then all of a sudden at the end he would raise his voice and startle my brother and me. Nowhere in the book did it tell specific instructions on how to verbalize the quote, my dad came up with that all on his own, “Ill love you forever, Ill Like you for always, as long as I’m living my baby you'll be.”
I enjoyed hearing the way my dad said it, the reason I enjoyed hearing it so much wasn’t because of the actual words, it was because when he read it, it didn’t sound like a burden, or a nightly task that he just wanted to get done with as soon as he could, it sounded like he loved what he was doing when reading to us. I could tell fun while doing it, at times when reading the book, or any nighttime story he would create a giant smile and laugh a little, that’s what made bed time so much more enjoyable for my brother and I. Life today seems to go by so much faster than I want it to, I always forget to stop and actually look around at the world, this is why I believe in memories. They open up and unlock a whole new perspective of time and sense of living, they bring back when life was simple and complete, and they are precious and should never be forgotten.