An Exception

I have a terrible memory.  Ask anyone.  Although I am great at remembering important dates and where I (or other people) have placed items that they can't find, my memory regarding events is the worst. 
Except for this...the years that I spent with my grandparents.  Both have passed, and today actually marks 15 years since my grandmother was relieved of her pain and suffering. The last day that I spent with her is etched in my memory like I was just there yesterday, as well as the day that we said goodbye.  And although those are two instances that bring much sadness, they are not the ones that I immediately think of when I think of her and my grandfather.
I don't know what it is about grandparents, but my husband and I are the exact same when it comes to both sets of ours that we no longer have with us...we have the fondest and most vivid memories about them, and we both have triggers that automatically remind us of them.  For example, Frosted Flakes.  I can't eat them without thinking of sitting at their kitchen table right before I went to bed. (had them in the morning too!)   Coffee...EVERY time I smell it I feel like I am walking into their house.  A backyard garden...it was my Grandpa's pride and joy (which I can only hope to someday replicate!)  Golfing...I don't do it often, which is the opposite of them, but everytime I ride in a golf cart or see golfers playing, I go directly back to the Golf Club I spent hours at with them as a child.  Homemade Strawberry Jam...my Gram made it the best...I would eat it right out of the jar.  And I think my favorite memory of them, which I am reminded of each night when I put the girls to bed is when my cousins and I were little and used to sleep over on the weekends...we would be put to sleep in separate bedrooms but we would wait a little bit and then one of us would carefully peek out to the front room where they would be watching tv and reading the newspaper, and when they weren't looking down the hall, we would crawl into one another's rooms and play until we thought they were getting ready to go to bed and then we would return to our original rooms...no wonder we were always so tired the next day-who knows how late we were up until!  And I think of that and if the girls will someday do the same thing...which I hope they do!
Grandparents are wonderful...and our girls are lucky enough to have both sets of grandparents as well as two sets of great-grandparents, which we are so grateful for.  We can only hope that they make as good and as many, if not better and more of the awesome memories that we have.