I just got back for an exciting adventure.  Two weeks ago my wife and I took our 16-year-old grandson on a trip to Paris with stops in England and London.  Mostly we had a great time but had our share of trauma too.  I had never had a desire to visit Paris but now that I have been there I am glad I made the trip.

I’ve got a million things running through my brain about this trip but what exactly to write about has been eluding me since we returned on Tuesday.  There is so much that happened and so much that we saw that it is impossible to write a nice neat 850 word essay on the experience.  I’ll be doing a number of posts to cover the whole trip.

We brought back a lot of memories, some good and some bad.  Heather has over 1,000 pictures and I’ve got close to 175 video clips plus we bought a few souvenirs.  Mostly we bought books and gifts but also a couple of things for ourselves.

I am not sure I can explain the one special gift I got for myself but here goes:  We were in this little gift shop in the Montmartre area of Paris shopping for little gifts to give to family.  Heather was helping our grandson find gifts to give to his family when I found a rack of music box movements.  Not a music box, just the mechanism that makes the music. There was a huge selection of tunes and I scanned through the titles until I found one that said, “Yesterday.” I thought it odd that they would have a Beetles tune for a music box but when I turned the handle it was that old familiar tune – one of my favorite.

Looking at the thing I knew I had to have it.  And I know that I have to make a box for it.

There is now way for me to explain why I am attracted to this little song but listening to it takes my brain to an old familiar place – a place that is warm and safe.  A place that is comforting.  As I stood in the store turning the little handle I could feel it drawing me to that place.

My wife then showed me some of the things our grandson was going to get when I showed them my find and said I was going to get it for me.  For reasons I don’t understand my grandson offered to buy it for me.

I didn’t think about it again until we returned home and were unpacking our treasures.  The little music movement now sits on my desk.  I’ve been thinking about what kind of box I am going to build for it and from time to time pick it up and turn the handle.  Sometimes it makes me smile.  Sometimes makes me feel a bit wistful and sometimes I feel a tear wanting to start.

It’s why I am writing this post.  I was typing Heather’s journal of our trip (going to use it to help figure out the trip video I am editing) when it caught my eye again and I had to turn the little handle.

Perhaps it the memories it brings back.  Memories of youth and of friends long ago.  As I age and my health changes my memories become more valuable and sometimes I do, “long for yesterday.”