Favorite Memories

We all have our favorite memories, even if we don’t know if they are real!

What I failed to remember at the time but remember it well after mom reminded me – we did a lot of shopping via the Sears, JCP, and Montgomery Wards catalogs. Mom seemed to know our measurements, and at times we ordered, and other times the catalog was simply a guide for what was at the store….but it was fun to go to the stores and get some chocolate at the counter by the escalator, or look at the Hardy Boy books upstairs…Do you have a favorite memory of a store? I had two aunts (Jenny and Edna) that had old-time stores in the country, and each had mysteries to unravel. Aunt Jenny was also the postmistress; we were never allowed behind her postal counter!

Memory: We were allowed to circle many things we wanted in the Christmas Catalog and then number them in order of desire. Santa always seemed to know what we wanted from those magic moments!

Memory is a funny thing. I’ve commented on it previously, but sometimes we remember things after certain smells or sights or simply someone reminding us. Somewhere in my past, I read that each time a memory is pulled into your consciousness, it is modified before it is stored – i.e., colors may be sharper, people will come and go, and even the actual event may have different results. Once you forget the memory, it is stored with the new results…

Memory: I can still hear the opening salvo of rhythmic clapping as Santa Esmeralda recorded “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood” in the Disco era of 1977. I’m not a Disco fan, but man… I have to simply stop and listen as that simple clapping draws me into the song that lasted for over 10 minutes. Then the amazing Spanish guitar in the background becomes the focus!

But as family passes, it becomes difficult to have anyone to share the memories with. It must be sad to be alone in the world and have no one to reflect on a shared past. My bride and I have nearly 49 years of memories. Shared with an aging family, it is difficult to share too much with the next generation…because I remember rolling my eyes as the stories were told. Just as I know the next generation is probably rolling their mental eyes as they read this. If they read this.

So, memories are nice,
and it is fun to reminisce about a campfire
as I remember many family gatherings. 

Memory: Swimming at some swimming hole with the family. I was about 3, maybe 4, maybe even 5 years old. Lake Travis? Floating on an air mattress, and then suddenly, I am upside down and underneath the water with the mattress on top of me… Uncle Walter reaches over and takes it off of me… Relief!

So Much Learning is All About Memory

Part of my blogging is to communicate, prepare for a particular book I want to produce, and share how my mind works through life’s stories. My ministry has many memories, but since it is a ministry and there are few who might be interested in knowing my history with the mountains and valleys, I will be content to let them go to the grave with me. My life’s history has been touched by so many. Prayerfully, I have touched some even more. Once we are gone, our lives are only remembered by those who will share the memories.

Memory: On the way to or from the grandparents, we stopped at a roadside park for a picnic. A great break on a 4 hour’s drive. After eating, dad played with us – he would lay on his back with his knees up. We would run, pivot over his knees, and he would flip us over his head… I remember this one event every time we passed that park later in life.

For example, there was a time when I had no interest in: Education, Travel, Israel, History, Math, or Music… and this is probably an endless list. But along the way, someone piqued my interest in something, and I grew hungry for knowledge and experience. So, along the way of growth, I have often blogged about Education, Travel, Israel, History, Science, Space, Authors and books, My poor math skills, and my eclectic notion of likable music.

Memory: I remember Rudolf, the red-nose reindeer, going down in his story…not history. I’m sure Teresa was recently born, so this must be Christmas 1958.

I’m even thinking about picking up some training for a portable instrument that I can easily take with me, a harmonica or mouth harp (except for the sake of my teeth!). No. Really. Lessons in the past revolved around the piano and guitar. I have limber fingers and no sense of musical scales – but I can pretty much single-note a melody and enjoy the experience! Maybe it’s time to learn Music Theory.

Here’s My Thought

Here’s the other thing that points me outward with my blogging – there are so many things out there to take notice of, write about, reflect upon lessons learned, and then apply to my life or yours…

It’s like reading the Bible through one time for the sake of a speed read (it takes about 77 hours of reading, as one of my memories back in the ’60s reminds me), but then going back through at a more leisurely or research pace, learning more and more with each opening of the pages, with each study of the words of life.

Memory: 6th grade. Poor teacher. Everyone making A’s. David Rhames, my best friend for several years, and I learned American Sign Language so we could cheat on tests. The teacher caught us and separated us across the room from each other, so we learned Morse Code and tapped out our answers! Worst class of my 13 years of public school, but I learned a lot. (Algebra II in High School was the next worst year, but that’s another memory for another time.)

I never grow tired of learning. My memory tells me that. I’ve always looked for something new to pay attention to, and that’s probably why technology was always a pleasure, even when it was a chore. It was a huge changing field from my first time seeing a computer at work in 1971. Keypunch cards to the future of what we take for granted today. I’m only 67, but I’ve seen a ton of changes! Who knows where it will go before I’m gone?

That’s some good future memories ready to be stored up for even later years!

Memory Has Two Sides

I hope I’ve described all the upsides to memories. They warm the cockles of the heart. For the most part. Call them the Up Side. Yet, we all know that all memories are not perfect for every person.

I was reminded yesterday that some memories are vague and only come to the surface when someone else pulls them forward to their frontal lobes, where they can choose to share. Or not. A poignant memory was shared, and I remembered it only because of its sharing. There’s something about remembering a shared past from another point of view. Then you see the dual side of memory.

There is a downside to memory. You do not want to get lost in the past. There is more than enough horizon ahead of us with life constantly changing. This does not mean I let go of my past. No. That’s my foundation. I only use it as a guidepost for my future.

The first recorded use of memory as a tool or notion in the Bible is after Noah exited the Ark. God paints a rainbow in the sky and notes this will be his tool to remember His covenant with man. (Genesis 9: 11-17) When I see a rainbow, I remember God’s promise. That was the intention.

You forget what you are taught until an event occurs when you remember. That happened to Peter after he denied the Lord three times.

And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had said to him, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” So Peter went out and wept bitterly.
Luke 22:61-62 NKJV

Was Peter’s memory a downside or an upside? It depends on your perspective and what you do with your memory. That’s where the good and the bad ideas of memories haunt us all day long. What will we do?