A conversation I had with my son recently:
Me: [changing purses]
Son: Mommy, remember your light green purse?
Me: I don’t have a light green purse.
Son: You did. Remember?
Me: Nope, I don’t think so, honey.
Son: It was the purse that got stolen when our car was broken.
Me: [flabbergasted]
—
The conversation by itself is not glass-shattering, but the context surprised me completely. Our car was broken into over a year and a half ago. And yes, I did have a light green purse that was taken from the car when it happened.
But the shocking part? My son is six. And he remembered. Not just that a purse was taken, but the color of the purse.
It reminded me of something I saw in a workshop given by the amazing Donald Maass (@DonMaass) years ago, when he shared that our most emotional memories are remembered in the smallest and most specific of details. It’s the color of someone’s shirt when they break up with you, it’s the smell in the air when you get great news… it’s the color of a purse when you are first introduced to the things bad people do as a child.
And it reminded me how true and powerful those small details can be.