Taste and Visual Memories

My husband made Eastern North Carolina style barbecue and cole slaw last evening.  When we lived in Rocky Mount, NC for 3 years, I became obsessed with the barbecue from Gardner's.  It had a tangy, slightly spicy, vinegar taste and was usually served on pulled pork.  One taste of the barbecue and my mind immediately went back to the mid-1980's.  Suddenly Brunswick Stew, Collard Greens and Black-Eyed Peas raced to the forefront of my mind and I was one foot in heaven.

It just takes one taste or a vision of something from the past and suddenly we are transported back.  It's like there's a file in our brain tucked neatly away until suddenly all the memories come tumbling back into our conscience.

I love that, don't you?

It's like this listing on Etsy:

Betsey Clark Playing Cards

(Source:  http://www.etsy.com/listing/121768658/vintage-bridge-playing-cards-betsey?ref=usr_faveitems)

These photographs took me right back to my grandparent's dining room.  Here my grandmother and I would play the card game, Fish, with these exact cards.  Sometimes my cousin would be included or a friend, but oftentimes it was just my grandmother and I.

This was the dining room table.  My great-grandmother is on the left, next to her is my cousin, in the back is my brother on the left and his friend on the right.  Next is my friend and then me probably taken in 1978 or so.  That table saw many a card game with Betsey Clark cards.

My grandmother has always been there for me from when I was young:

and even is today (I am SO blessed!):

While I think of her often and speak with just as much, looking at the cards takes me back to Sycamore, Illinois to the dining room table and hoping I was the next winner of Fish.  Just another reason to love vintage and oh! a husband that can cook a mean Eastern Style Barbecue!  :)