Lingering Feeling of Love

Bandannas!

I have been wearing bandannas as face masks for the past couple of weeks, to cover my nose and mouth whenever leaving the house. Over the years, I have slowly acquired quite a colorful collection of these classic handkerchiefs.

The other day, I finally got to the bottom of the bandanna rotation. As I held in my hands this old orange bandanna with "Search XXXV" written across it in blue, I drifted away from my home, away from 2020, away from the present moment, and into a scene from my past. As a senior in college, I was part of a team of twelve students who led a weekend retreat called "Search." We were the thirty-fifth group of students to lead this retreat at my school, which always follows the same structure of story-telling, small group discussions, prayer, and fun activities. Over the course of six months, as the twelve leaders met each week to plan the retreat, confided in one another, built trust, grew incredibly close, and formed a deep bond of love.

As I stood by my dresser with the orange bandanna in my hand, the images in my mind, which briefly captivated my entire consciousness, faded back into memory. But something remained in my heart: this lingering feeling of love. Powerful love.

Objects can become imprinted with memories; they can contain meaning far beyond their appearance; they can become time travel vessels that whisk us away to another place and time; and they can leave us with feelings that linger beyond our memories. For me, an old orange bandanna transported me back into a formative experience of love and community, leaving me with a lingering feeling of love in a time when I needed it.

What meaningful memories or time-travelling objects have you encountered lately? And what lingering feelings have remained?