I found myself getting a bit sentimental yesterday.

On my way into work I drive passed my old house; the house I grew up in and lived in until I was 18. A house full of different kinds of memories some of which are good, some of which are bad, most of which are wonderful.

I have driven passed it a lot of times however for some reason yesterday I noticed it. I took it in and rediscovered it's brick work and the style of the windows, the paving and the tree that stood in front of it. It has an extension now so the door and 'look' of the front of the house has changed, but it is still 'our house'.

Isn't it strange and wonderful how a glimpse of somewhere, something or someone can take you back in a split second? You get that overwhelming rush of nostalgia and are back at that moment in time you are remembering.

It has been so long since I thought of my childhood home. I guess because it has been ten years now since I was last there and my life has changed because I have grown up. I am married and very happy in our home and with our life and so in the grand scheme of things haven't felt the need to look back. Of course I have thought about it from time to time when telling a story from my childhood or whatever but all in all I haven't found myself having any major 'flashbacks'.

After driving passed my old home and noticing it properly for the first time in a long time I found myself thinking back to the smell of the big cabinet in the living room. It's scent of wood and polish and china ornaments. The texture of the sofa we had and the sound of the wooden floor throughout the house. I suddenly remembered the wallpaper in the hall that was textured and felt funny. I remembered my bedroom. I can remember when it last got decorated and being excited at it getting a makeover. I also remember my brother and I using our pillows as sleighs to go down the stairs and when this funny builder fitted our fireplace and did a trick that made it look as though he was pulling off his thumb. I can remember the house phone was in the hall and (in a childhood before mobiles being so mainstream) Mum and I would sometimes spend nights doing sign language and mouthing at eachother to 'hang up because I need to use the phone.' My brother would hog the computer when we first got the internet and first discovered MSN Messenger. I walked out that front door for my first day of school; infant, junior and secondary. I can remember the night before starting secondary school like it was last week. Not being able to sleep and my mum giving me her lucky hanky to put in my bag! I remember I had been given a boy's blazer by mistake too (hope that wasn't because of my short hair cut!)

I remember the messy drawer that had EVERYTHING in it! Keys, cards, screws, glasses......the oldest item in there probably dated back to 1982. I remember my Mum's LP collection and our old Christmas tree. I can remember it all. Thinking about it makes me feel as though it was all yesterday. Time goes so quickly!

We all have memories we treasure. They are everything to us even if they are nothing to everyone else. Nothing can beat happiness and making more amazing memories for us to treasure as we pass through life.  No matter if you're rich or poor, fat or thin.... whoever you are, you are the luckiest person on earth if you have a life full of people you love and memories that you will value and remember forever.