This time of the year brings a lot of warm good memories. Memories of family, friends, and nice past experiences. Please take a moment to tell me some of yours, I hope you will want to share...

I have many, especially of my family and of my children. Memories of them at Christmas when they were small and now with new memories being created each day. Even though they are now married with children of their own.

This is a short story by Lance Wubbels and Mac Anderson entitled: "To a child LOVE is spelled TIME." Possibly it will help bring out some of your wonderful memories.....

"In the faint light of the attic, an old man, tall and stooped, bent his great frame and made his way to a stack of boxes that sat near one of the little half-windows. Brushing aside a wisp of cobwebs, he tilted the top box toward the light and began to carefully lift out one old photograph album after another. Eyes once bright but now dim searched longingly for the source that had drawn him here.

It began with the fond recollection of the love of his life, long gone, and somewhere in these albums was a photo of her he hoped to rediscover. Silent as a mouse, he patiently opened the long buried treasures and soon was lost in a sea of memories. Although his world had not stopped spinning when his wife left it, the past was more alive in his heart than his present aloneness.

Setting aside one of the dusty albums, he pulled from the box what appeared to be a journal from his grown son's childhood. He could not recall ever having seen it before, or that his son had ever kept a journal. Why did Elizabeth always save the children's old junk? he wondered, shaking his white head.

Opening the yellowed pages, he glanced over a short reading, and his lips curved in an unconscious smile. Even his eyes brightened as he read the words that spoke clear and sweet to his soul. It was the voice of the little boy who had grown up far too fast in this very house, and whose voice had grown fainter and fainter over the years. In the utter silence of the attic, the words of a guileless six-year-old worked their magic and carried the old man back to a time almost totally forgotten.

Entry after entry stirred a sentimental hunger in his heart like the longing a gardener feels in the winter for the fragrance of spring flowers. But it was accompanied by the painful memory that his son's simple recollections of those days were far different from his own. But how different?

Reminded that he had kept a daily journal of his business activities over the years, he closed his son's journal and turned to leave, having forgotten the cherished photo that originally triggered his search. Hunched over to keep from bumping his head on the rafters, the old man stepped to the wooden stairway and made his descent, then headed down a carpeted stairway that led to the den.

Opening a glass cabinet door, he reached in and pulled out an old business journal. Turning, he sat down at his desk and placed the two journals beside each other. His was leather-bound and engraved neatly with his name in gold, while his son's was tattered and the name "Jimmy" had been nearly scuffed from its surface. He ran a long skinny finger over the letters, as though he could restore what had been worn away with time and use.

As he opened his journal, the old man's eyes fell upon an inscription that stood out because it was so brief in comparison to other days. In his own neat handwriting were these words:

Wasted the whole day fishing with Jimmy. Didn't catch a thing.

With a deep sigh and a shaking hand, he took Jimmy's journal and found the boy's entry for the same day, June 4. Large scrawling letters, pressed deeply into the paper, read:

Went fishing with my dad. Best day of my life."

Stringer,

That was Absolutely Sensational!

This merrits sending off to young parents in an attempt to prevent them from taking granted those things children love and remember for the rest of their lives.

My daughter was born in November, and Halloween was always one of my favorite holidays. After that, it became a little too commercial in the cities.

But my daughter remembers that on cold winter evenings, sitting together or already in bed, I would brush her hair and she would fall asleep. We also shared the love of rain falling on the slanted roof window because it was relaxing for us both. We are a lot older now, but our memories will never end. Now, we are looking forward to my grandson's second Christmas because he was too young the first time. I cannot wait to see those eyes looking at the lights and having fun with the wrapping paper.

Thank you for creating this thread, I'm sure we will all enjoy it and get involved.

Already had a little snow here.. can't wait to see how Alexander likes it.

Chery, thank you so much, I am so fond of all the many happy and warm memories that my children and family have left me. Like you, I now have been blessed with four grandchildren who just keep making me smile so much. Maybe I am getting a little softer in my "older" age, but nothing makes me happier.

Like in this story, and yours, isn't it amazing what little children find so important and our time and attention is one of the most important things to them. If only we could re-set the clock... and or maybe start now..

Warm and good memories of this year so far? I am just grateful that whatever I have needed in order to provide for my family, it has been granted. That is plenty good enough for me. My youngest is healthy for now, that is extra good. Each day comes and in it, there is some blessing. Even if I have to take a magnifying glass to find it. Lol.

How true. I think we are both richer for these memories and feel blessed to have them.

I have a feeling that you bless those that know you... Thank you for your comments.

Thank you... maybe we all still have a chance to stop and create memories.

I have mentioned in another post that this is the first Christmas without our Mother. She passed two days before her 83rd birthday one year ago. A small frail looking woman with a sparkle in her eyes and a spirit that could change the world for the better. She raised eight of us on a very small budget, I now realize what she went through and sacrificed so much for us. She denied herself and never, not once, complained, so many wonderful memories Chery.

This Christmas we are all going back home to Pittsburgh to also celebrate her.

Stringer, thank you for this wonderful, true and inspiring story. If anything, I remember the good camping trips, the hospital trips and stays, the warm things they say to me when I am waking in the morning. My kids soft hands when they come up to hold my hand, or the "holy cow" you are getting too strong for me to wrestle now...
I love them, and try not to take them for granted, whether we have a good day or a bad day... I always kiss and hug them at the end of it! Stringer, thank you!

Start, you and I have gotten to know each other over the months. I know the special caring person that you are, and I believe you make memories every day. Thank you for your comments also.

Thank you Stringer. I hope to make them remember everything, don't expect me to get into that scrap booking stuff though! LOL
We were looking through old pictures last night, funny that you posted this today actually... Oh goodness how sweet it was to talk about all the old pictures, even my old pictures! That was a memory made, just last night!;)

Very nice Start, I remember my Mom sitting with us when we were younger (as many as she could squeeze around her, it seemed we were always vying to be the closest to her) telling us that she had a special "purse" where she put all her loving memories into. And just like kids, we all wanted to know which memory she had of each one of us. And, she had many for each.

Just like today when I was laying on the couch, for some reason they all want to be by me... one by one... laying on top of me until I can't breath... I swear I had the fear of losing all of my breath! It was more like a dog pile, when the fifth decided to get off, I could finally tell them I almost died! LMAO, little poops that they are, they laughed at me!
I love the attention, and they love it too!

That is because they really want to be near you too.:)

This reminds me of when we too would all get together and do the same. "Who is that, who is this one? (pointing)" "That is your Great, Great Aunt-Gracie." Many of the black & white pictures were so old, worn and tattered that that you could hardly see them anymore.

And she had shoe boxes full of these pictures. We have managed to save many and are thankful that she wrote dates and relationships on the back of each one.

I remember that our Mom would know every person in each picture, who they were related to and had a story about each person.

One great memory of mine is my mother or father coming in to sing to me at bedtime.. Adel Vice is the song they would sing and it would make me feel so safe and loved. I sing it to my children now and sometimes they sing along with me. IF I can make my children feel half as safe as I felt... I will be thankful for that.. safe and loved.
Another great memory is when I was having a bad day and feeling terrible about myself, my dad would make me sit down and write 10 things that I like about myself...

OHHH and playing cowboys and indians in the woods, in the winter and making snow angels... hot chocolate with marshmallows and ice skating with very cold toes... wonderful memories that didn't cost a thing...
Playing outside, climbing trees and not coming in till the street lights came on...

Sitting with my grandparents as they tell stories and cooking in the kitchen with all the wonderful aromas of ITALIAN sauce...

Thank you Stringer for taking me back...

Shattered.. you are very welcome. Your memories are precious and will be part of your life forever. Some of the things you said take me back also, we all have so many wonderful times and images in us that mold who we are and that we pass on to our own children.
Thanks again.

Shy, the last sentence of your post speaks volumes to me this day! Thank you.

Just a quick "thank you" to each of you who have posted on this thread. I ran across it the other night but didn't have time to digest it all. Tonight, I so much wanted to find it and couldn't remember where it was. Going to the nursing home each evening to help mother (who has dementia but still has her gift of laughter), with dinner and doing the things I know she would want, face washed, teeth brushed, lotions, hugs, etc. to help get her to bed, staying until she is dozy, going to the hospital when my sis-in-law just had cancer surgery (Thyroid Cancer), paying mother's bills, still sad over the loss of my dad and my nephew, somehow, the wonderful memories of when my children were babies and our sweet times together, my happy times as a child, even current times spent with my five grandchildren, seem to be getting lost to me. I needed this reminder that I do have so much to have joy about. Reading your posts have brought back smiles and such warmth to my heart. I want to post at some point but tonight, I just want to say how much I appreciate all that each of you have shared.

Jrebel7, please tell us your memories. I believe that all of us have those special ones that we will carry with us forever. Those that we cherish and make us who we are today.
Stringer

Holy cow, this is a duplicate of me, those boys got so tall and strong, ones 6" 1 and the little one is 6"4, no they have no problem taking me! picking me up, but, I have all the I love you mom cards they made at school and that keeps me warm!:)