There sat the bag, the bag that has been atop mountains, through caves, over lakes and rivers. With its assortment of colorful patches and pins each containing a memory. Each patch that is sewn on is a memory that is added to the collection. A memory of traveling to unfamiliar locations and experiencing what they have to offer. Memories of building relationships with friends, family, and even animals.

A simple round patch with a bear, sewn on a black bag. It means so much more than just a destination, than just simply going to the visitor center and spending money for a embroidered circle because it looks cool. That simple patch brings about memories of adventures, bonding, discovery. Some threads sewn together into a bear shape stirs memories of sleeping under the stars miles from the nearest road, hiking to waterfalls along a great river, jumping into springs from rocks above. The patch itself has little value but the memories that bear contains are priceless.

All it takes is a bird and a red background to recall my first solo flight out to Nevada. Spending each day exploring the barren desert and the unique ecosystem that it has on display.  Each evening climbing atop mountains to witness the sky transform into a magnificent light show full of reds, pinks, and oranges. And each night, with my grandparents, who support me in any adventure no matter what it is, trying to find a sky dark enough to witness each glimmering star of the milky way. The patches are the story of me, how I overcame fears and matured.

There are some stories that words can not tell. Some stories are too great to be summarized with a few letters. Words can try to capture the experience, but they fail to capture true emotion. Some emotions just can't be explained. the moment you see the entire milky way for the first time in your life gives a feeling of being so small, so irrelevant, but the feeling is so beautiful. Witnessing the warm, dim, glow of a receding flame on the faces of the people who you care for most, it nearly brings tears. It's difficult to describe why, it's just in the moment, everything is just so meaningful. There is nothing that can truly capture memories, but the closest thing that works for me is the simple touch of a patch.