By Suzanne “Cricket” Binelli
When I was around 10 years old, we went to Niagara Falls. I honestly do not have the best memory of seeing the falls, probably because I was pretty annoyed that I was not going on the boat ride, nor was I going to go behind the falls wearing a yellow raincoat and hat.
What I do remember is The Niagara Falls Museum. It had a two headed lamb and a five-legged cow as well as all the different contraptions that people decided to go over the falls in. I truly think that the wooden barrel was the worst idea, followed very closely by the steel barrel. It amazes me how many people thought falling off a waterfall was a good plan.
Then I saw him, General Ossipumphnoferu. He lived around 1450BC and is one of the most fantastic mummies you will ever see. I’m not sure how long I stood there fascinated by this 3000 year old dead guy. He still has his eyebrows.
Fast forward to 2010. My three daughters and I were visiting a museum in Connecticut when we came upon a really cool looking mummy. I froze. It was HIM. I never thought I’d see him again. General Ossipumphnoferu. I told my kids that I knew this mummy, I saw him when I was 10. In typical teenager form they told me I was nuts and that it was not the same mummy. I had my middle smarty pants daughter read the plaque and HAH! Mama doesn’t forget a face. Mom:1 Kids: 0
It’s odd what memories stick with us throughout our lives. I’ve collected some amazing ones in the past half century and I look forward to one day visiting the APT in each of the states it runs through, seeing places I’ve never been, meeting new people – maybe even some new mummies and making new memories. Most important is to try to give yourself as many opportunities to fill that data bank in your brain, and if you have kids (human or furry) you can be sure that things will stick with them as well.
Thoreau
“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived”
