It's important to me, to create lasting memories. My parents and my brother passed away way too young in their lives and I wish I had more moments with them to have created more memories. I wish I had time I could have shared with them on some of the little joys in life but since we did not get that, I am sure that drives me to create memories for my family now.
Memory making can be small, tender times and don't always have to be epic adventures. Although the epic adventures certainly will be memorable! Memories link a family together like heirloom possessions and while each person remembers things differently, they still are unseen gifts held in our hearts. Some of the best memories of our lives are made with our loved ones.
Memories are to to be celebrated and cherished. It isn't a memory until someone recalls it and starts the conversation "remember when...". As our children have become adults, we are finding things they have done that we had no idea happened and their recollection is quite interesting. For example, they all seem to think we left them alone with the eldest child in charge many, many times and for long periods of time. In actuality, we rarely left them, but when we did it would be for maybe two hours and we were within walking distance of home. Apparently, a lot can happen in that short period of time and their memories of what happened those "numerous" times unnerve me. I have to remind myself their immature memories are just that.
To celebrate one of our anniversaries, my husband created multiple questions that were about our dating relationship. Each day, a different person in our life would call or contact me asking a question. If I got it right, I got a letter. After gathering all the letters, I had to scramble and unscramble them to figure out what he was telling me. I knew all the answers-- thank goodness, but it took me some time to figure out what the message was. It was amazing that he remembered all the trivia from our dating period. Good memories and I bet today, after 43 years, we both will remember them all just the same!
I read a story about a young bride making a special ham dinner for her husband and as she prepared the ham, she cut off a few inches from one end, put it in the pan and proceeded to bake it. He asked her why she did that and she said she remembered her mother always cut off the end first, so she did it too. The next time she saw her mother, she asked her about cutting the ham and her mother said she remembered that her mother did it too, so she always did it. They decided to call the elder mother (better do it sooner, rather than later!) and ask her why. The mother told her daughter and her grand daughter she cut the end off the ham because her baking pan was too small to hold the ham! Memories! Glad they figured that one out!
When one of our grand daughters was going to Disney for the first time, I asked if I could tag along. Fortunately, her parents said yes, but my son asked me why I wanted to go. I told him I wanted to share the moment not only with her but with them as well. When we went to meet the Princesses, my grand daughter was sweet and polite to Cinderella and Belle, but when it was time to meet Aurora, she ran into her arms--as Aurora was her favorite Princess! Of course, I cried, and I whispered to my son "this is why I wanted to be here". I have been so very blessed to be with all of the kids so far when they have gone to Disney and each and every moment I cherish. These are memories my mother didn't get to experience.
As each day passes, I want to continue creating and experiencing memories for our family. I preserve as much as I can in scrapbooks that are beautifully crafted. I want our family's memories to be filled with laughter, wonder and love. We have grown from the difficult times but may we always hold the good memories in our hearts forever. 
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