Mom always has gum or mints around, just one of her little things.

I was, shall we say, chemically inclined towards spiritual moments at the time, and so got a pretty big kick out of the "power" of being handed one of Mom's little magic mints.

But there really is _something_ very real to that feeling (despite the fact that it doesn't come through as strongly on the usual blend of neurotransmitters).

It connects to a deep vein of experience between my brother, mom, and me. I can't count the number of times mom handed out a tic tac or a piece of gum during a car ride when I was growing up. It triggers memories, it puts one in a certain state of mind, to have that little talisman that represents in abstract some huge, irreducible set of experiences.

Symbols have power, and it can be a sort of fun and pleasing experience to contemplate the states of mind that a simple tic tac can induce.

Another little connection to Mom recently was the two Valentine's day cards she sent to my kids - which each had a little smiley face drawn inside. And again, I was kinda struck by the depth of that association, because I've seen the little smilies she draws on countless notes and cards throughout my life.

So instead of just tossing those cards after the week is over as per usual, this time I'm going to cut out that little smile and put it on my bulletin board. A little token of Mom's love, worth way more than the ink and paper it's made of.

Also, while I'm in this state of mind, guess I better go give the old lady a call, so I'll stop rambling here.

I wonder if that's true or just nostalgia? Certainly there are examples of prized possessions in the past. And the rise of manufacturing makes a lot of things feel less unique.

But at the same time, empathy even toward living things took quite a while to develop.

Maybe placebo is the wrong word. We channel our souls through anthropomorphized objects to see ourselves more clearly, but in the end we see only dimly and at best recognize that we displace our love and grief metaphorically only to miss the world that we meant the totem to hold for us.