After weeks of blistering temperatures, it’s finally cool out. I’m celebrating the occasion by sitting on my patio, enjoying my black-eyed susans and cone flowers and daisies in the magnificent wildflower garden my husband built for me.

As I mused over what to write about this morning, I noticed bathing suit frog.

Bathing suit frog is a new addition to the garden. I was hoping for a Buddha, but Dave came home with this guy instead, selected (of course) by our six year old.  He presented the frog to me, beaming. “Mom, isn’t he awesome? He’s a frog…in a bathing suit!”

Just now I had a vision of Dave and me, piddling around the house in our golden years, defending the bathing suit frog from our adult children, who would no longer see the value in such things.

Like memories.

The past can be a source of endless pain, but it can also bring us deep joy and satisfaction. Future me will look at bathing suit frog and remember the miracle of a little boy who thought it was too awesome to pass up. In that moment I’ll remember with absolutely clarity his raucous laugh, the wiggly teeth, and all the rest of it.

I’m smiling just thinking about it.