Memory Lane

Traveling back home to Turkiye with my family brings out many feelings.  Happiness is the overarching feeling which embraces excitement, curiosity, joy, gratefulness, empathy, pride and a little bit of sadness…. Most of these feelings stem from having my kids and my husband walking through my childhood memories (and rest, from missing home).

For the last couple of years, kids and I have been digging into my old boxes that my mom had saved.  Kids learned a lot about walkmans, cd players or old school landline phones. They also listened to numerous of my stories that was related to one simple object like a key chain.

This year’s focus shifted slightly away from my boxes to the wardrobes, specifically my mom’s and my grandma’s.  As I was getting amazed with my mom’s high school outfits, my daughter was equally impressed with my grandma’s closet.  I found myself trying my mom’s high school graduation dress that was made by her aunt while Ela was putting together a fashion show with my grandma’s summer clothes (just like I used to do when I was her age).  Each dress had its own story and we had plenty of time to listen.  Kaya also joined the fashion show with his own picks.  He made sure that he was a part of this journey in the memory lane.

All of a sudden the stories that started with the objects, evolved into stories related to the experiences - like the sunsets. I realized that the kids started to get curious about everything around them.  “What did YOU wish when watching the sunset when you were our age?””Did you also like jumping into the water from the shore?””How did these hills look like before?”  Those questions were for everyone, inclusive of my 93-year old grandma.  I could tell how she was finding herself in that magical world of memories, most of which included my grandpa who passed away 5 years ago.  Even though there were tears involved, bringing the past to the present was filled with smiles.  And watching my 6 year-old not leaving the side of my grandma and creating a whole new memory, was precious.

I don’t know how much of these stories from the memory lane stick with my kids.  However, I know that these stories help them see the people around them with a different lens.  And these stories help the story tellers to stay in that memory lane just a little longer.

Guvercinlik is the little village where most of my stories and my dreams were built.  Every June I look forward to spending time with my kids in that village and re-living those memories with them. This year, I also had my grandma join us which made it even more special, because all my childhood summers were spent in that village with my grandparents.

As most of you know, I continue to teach my classes no matter where I am - even if I am deep into the memory lane.  Here is a class, focused on balance, dedicated to the heat of Guvercinlik and filmed in my childhood place:

Big high five to those of you who can find that balance between the past and the present to move forward to the future.

with my grandma

story telling is in full swing

kaya’s part in the fashion show - jacket is from my grandma, outfit selection is purely Kaya