The Greygoose Memory Jar- Mikayla Bivona

At my soccer banquet freshman year after closing our season, I watched as our then captain,  Taylor Nolan stood in front of us, telling all of us underclassmen how we need to cherish High School because it would fly by. Of course, just as they said we would, I didn't believe her. Now I'm closing in on the end of my Sophomore year and I'm realizing just how fast High School is going for me. Next year, we'll be Juniors, beginning the rest of our lives by starting to look at colleges, majors, and deciding what we actually want to do.

But all I want to do is stay in High School forever and continue to make as many happy memories as possible.

I knew early on that I would most likely forget most of my small experiences in high school, and I regularly keep a journal, but these entries were too long and I hated reading them over and over again unless they were something that I really enjoyed. But even then, I wasn't writing down all of the small moments happening every day.

What I began doing was keeping a "memory jar." This was a giant Greygoose vodka bottle (don't worry, I had not been the one to drink it) that I had sitting on a shelf in my room. I thought that it looked pretty, so I began to write little phrases on these tiny, purple, ripped up pieces of paper and sticking them in there. Therefore, when I read them, each one would remind me of a small moment that I had most likely not thought about in a long time. My idea was that I would fill this huge bottle with as many memories as possible, and when it was finally full, I would smash it open with a hammer or something and pick through all of the notes and read them.

Obviously, I had not thought through the danger of smashing a glass bottle open, or and the possibility that my parents wouldn't be 100% okay with this.

So one night, I was home alone, and I was upset about something (which, today, I don't even remember what it was). So naturally, I look up at that joy-filled Greygoose bottle sitting on my shelf. I think to myself, "It's not full... but I should smash it anyway." And if you're a rational person, you might be thinking, "well that's not a good idea at all," and you're right. It wasn't.

Instead, my rational side kicked in and I decided I couldn't do that and that I needed to think of something else.

For those of you that don't know, Greygoose bottles have a very long skinny top to them; so pulling them out by hand was not going to work. Naturally, I decide the only way that I am going to get them out is by sticking a paintbrush down that long neck, and fishing out pieces of paper, one by one.

It somehow managed to actually work... it might have taken me hours... but it worked.

I got every piece of paper out, opening each one as I went, giving it a small smile or a laugh when I read it.

I remembered all these memories, and they made me insanely happy. I didn't want to throw any of them away. If I did that, I would forget them again just as easily as I had the first time. So I decided to take a small notebook my friend Kate had gotten me a year previous to that and write each of these memories down with an number next to them. As of now, I have 106 happy memories written down, and every time I want to smile or need a happy reminder of all the good times I've had in High School so far, I open that little notebook, and it brings me joy.

It helps me remember the small moments in life that I hope I will remember forever.

--

Another thing I do to attempt to remember things is take pictures, or keep small things (it kinda sounds like hoarding but I promise it's not...).

I have a manilla folder in my room that is slowly filling with concert tickets, boarding passes, polaroids that I've deemed "not good enough" to go on my wall, notes written from friends and family members, and printed pictures from my childhood. I looked through this today and read a simple birthday card from my grandmother and it made me happy. I found a picture of two of my best friends fishing from easter... a boarding pass to disney, a handwritten note from my friends mom when I fell asleep on their couch. Pictures from photo booths at parties, ribbons from my Middle School Track career.

All of these things may sound like junk, but I will probably keep all of them for the rest of my life.

These photos, tickets, and notes are all things that make me happy and bring me joy. They help me remember moments in my life that I one day, might forget.

If you're anything like me, the most bittersweet moment is when you realize how much you're going to miss a moment while you're still living it. So do yourself a favor and write it down, or take a picture and get it printed. Just make sure you'll always remember those moments that you'd thought you'd never forget. Because one day when you have a job and a family, you're not going to constantly be thinking about that time you and your friend went cliff jumping, or rope swinging or the bike ride and dinner.

Write these things down so when you're feeling sad or just nostalgic, you have something you can physically hold in your hand and smile at.