Pancakes

 Sometimes you get clear memories locked in the folds of your brain - moments where every detail, the time, day, place, etc. are indelibly etched upon the gray matter in your skull.  But other times, there are just... impressions? Like, in my random travels across the internet, I saw a picture of a vintage bottle of "Golden Griddle" pancake syrup - and suddenly, I had a flood of emotional memories hit me.  Nothing exactly specific, but I remember in my childhood, this was a brand of syrup my mother often bought, and whenever I see it - I remember mornings where she cooked me and my brothers breakfast - and that every prsent bottle of sweet stuff sat on the table.  She always seemed to have so much fun cooking up stacks of those pancakes for us - and, of course, the ever present favorite of us boys, bacon.  My younger brother and older brother used to have "competitions" to see who could have the last piece of bacon left at the end of the meal.  We'd be finishing up and my brother would proudly chomp his "last piece of bacon" that he saved, while we were all bereft of the deliciousness.... only to have my other brother pull out a small piece he hid under the edge of his plate, and smugly eat it.  We'd all giggle.  We still joke about this to this day when we all get together for a meal.  It's one of my favorite memories about my brothers. 

But it's amazing how a little thing like a bottle of syrup can bring back memories and emotions of happy, good times.  I am really thankful for those moments in my life, and for the fact that I can recall them all these years later and still smile.