Places of the heart....

that were so real, so vibrant and the 'stuff' of daily existence. Time, ticking along, replaces those on a daily basis. Gradually at first, and then faster and faster. First the places, and then the people, who held our hearts, fade. But fading is not the same as disappearing. A lyric from a song, the scent of lilac on the warm spring air, a particular full moon, a passing glimpse of something...and we are once again in "that" place...the one that thing which is 'of the heart'.
 We could collect this random bits of stimulation, like pieces for a quilt. Rain on your face, the smell of freshly cut grass, flickering fireflies at dusk. A waft of homemade bread or fresh strawberries, the graduation march played across our nation as May rolls into June. Or the Wedding march ringing out from churches across the land. A baby's laughter or the scent of baby powder. Gather them up and put them in our scrap baskets.
 Long carefree days of summer...it seems they will never end. County fairs and spitting watermelon seeds. Dripping popsicles and brown bags of penny candy. The thump of a beloved pets tail as they greet us *VBS*
 Friends, Grandmas, little sisters, Mom and Dad. Favorite cousins, smelly Aunts. Each of these, a 'piece', that held a place in my heart, of my heart....gone now, passed into eternity, but existing in memories that take me back to there.
And for our country's celebration of Indendence tomorrow, "Catch a falling star and put it in a basket, never let it get away....".