Souvé: A la Recherche du Temps Perdu!
Do you remember your 3rd Birthday,… your 4th , with the bouncing castle and the Disney
characters, …No? Well, you are not alone. Psychologists speak of “childhood amnesia”
and suggest we don’t remember much prior to age 6 because of the interplay between
language formation and the incomplete development of the brain’s physical infrastructure
important to memory formation and retention. When pressed we can sometimes retrieve
a random, almost surreal, recollection in a disjointed manner, but for the most part these
early years are the “lost years” from a memory perspective.
I was lucky…I had my mother, a lovingly organized woman who had the foresight to
record everything, and I mean everything, about my early years. No milestone, no matter
how insignificant, went without her making a note of it in her beautiful, fluid handwriting.
While I was aware of this collated treasure trove in my teens, the full significance of her
gift to me only dawned on me when I had my first child and understood the true meaning
of a mother’s love. This personal archive was also the genesis of Souvé.
Souvé, which is a contraction of the French word for memory, souvenir, is both a company
and a range of products which allows parents to preserve the precious memories and
milestones of their children, in a structured and easily accessible way. Collectively the
products form an individual time capsule which can be presented to each child at a
significant birthday or life event. Starting before birth, these quality products “fill in the
blanks” of childhood and can be enjoyed and appreciated throughout one’s life. They are
more meaningful than a sterile electronic format because they have been touched by the
most import human hands, those of a parent.