I had a request to repost this one. It’s a special memory for me…so here you go.
A simple question. Do you live in Groundhog Day? One day following another…exactly the same. Get up, do your bathroom stuff, make coffee, maybe have breakfast, get kids’ lunches ready and them off to school, get ready for work…”bye, Love you…” and Hi Ho Hi Ho it’s off to work you go.
End of the day home, snack for kids, supper (dinner for you city folks) preparation, eat in front of the TV, scold the kids for too much time on their electronic devices, bathe the kids, perhaps watch some TV yourselves, then off to bed.
Wash, rinse, spin, dry, fold, repeat…
Sound like YOU?
One day, the kids will be grown and gone, one day your work will come to an end, and if you haven’t gotten bored with each other by or before then…
Then what? Will all your memories be of that remarkable breakfast you made when the kids were in 3rd and 4th grade? What will you talk about? The day you got the promotion? When your boss got sacked? Or, simply nothing at all, because you failed to deposit some wonderful, on purpose, memories in your future bank of thoughts and memories.
The good news is it’s never too late to start making memories. The list of suggestions is limitless, but here are a few thought starters for you. These are some of the most memorable to my bride and me…
We collect traditions, celebrations and dates and make a written record of the best of them for digging out later to play, “I remember when________________________” Lots of fun to do.
Our biggest tradition is of taking turns planning our wedding anniversaries, and then making a record of what we did. Some have been spectacular and others complete flops (those are among the most funny memories…now). The point is to make memories as you go. Don’t wait until, “One of these days...” One of these days there won’t be any more.
We also do a Christmas stocking for each other. One year Barb gave me a bunch of $100 bills scattered everywhere to pay for a fly fishing excursion which was on my Bucket list. Awesome. I even caught some fish.
Another year I had gone to the local jeweler for a watch battery. He told me my bride reallllly loved a beautiful ring (see picture below). I choked on the price and went away. My self-talk said, “If she really loved that, can I possibly afford to get it? Can I NOT?” I went back and told him to get real on the price and he sorta did and I bought it anyway.
Got a package of Cracker Jacks…cut the bottom…replaced the ‘prize’ with the ring and taped up the bottom. It was a great surprise for Christmas morning – even after my bride told me she remembered seeing the ring, but never said it was a MUST HAVE. I got whipsawed by the jeweler.
We laughed then and today it’s a precious memory we can pull out and enjoy again and I love seeing it on her finger.
The point is…MAKE MEMORIES all the time. Store them up for later recall. “I remember when__________________________” is a great game of forever intimacy. Highly recommended.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
THE RING
