Great-Granddaddy tells the story of his father's passing. Although he loved and admired the man greatly, he said when he learned of JM's death he didn't shed a tear. The death was not unexpected and JM had led a long and fulfilling life. Great-Granddaddy didn't believe in an afterlife. He felt death was a natural event.
JM and Lucretia Bedichek owned and taught at the Bedichek Academy in Eddy, Texas for over twenty years. There was no public school in the area. (More on this later.) Great-Granddaddy was a student there. The memorial service for JM was attended by students and alum. As the children filed past to take their place at the front of the chapel for a song, the sound of their footsteps walking up the stairs immediately took Great-Granddaddy back to his younger years as a student at the school and he suddenly began to weep.
He remembered the daily sound of himself and his classmates going up the wooden stairs to the school after recess or lunch. In telling this story, he remarks how sounds can transport us and pull up lost memories.
I had that experience when I got out of my car at Lucy Park in Wichita Falls. The cacophony of birds was such a familiar sound from my childhood. The grackles especially are noisy birds! The quiet single cheeps of a cardinal came through as I stood under a tree.
These are birds that are not in Colorado, where I currently live. Though love the song of the chickadee and flicker, they don't pull at my gut and send me back 50 years to the days of my childhood like the calls of the grackle, mocker, dove and cardinal.
What sound memories do you have? Have you had a similar experience?
Watch out when walking under the trees down there!
I love that you are doing this. ❤️