“Pressed between the pages of my mind”….

The title of this post is a song by Elvis Presley (for those of you too young to remember) and it sums up the way I have been feeling lately. It seems like everything I see, hear or smell these days reminds me of something or someone from my past.

Last week I wrote about how everything we did back in the “good old days” seemed better. And I asked the question, “were they really better or were we just missing the people who are no longer with us.” I still don’t know the answer to the question but it brought up some other things to think about. Memories.

The memories I am talking about today are the ones caused by a certain smell or something as simple as seeing kids playing on the beach. I saw lots of them on our recent trip to Chincoteague this past week. Families holding hands and jumping over the waves together. I was instantly taken back to the days when my kids and I went to OC, MD and we were playing in the water and jumping the waves. The memories all came flooding back and a few slipped down my cheeks.

It seems I can’t get through a day when something I do or see doesn’t remind me of a memory from my past. I have always had some of these moments but now they seem to happen more frequently. Sometimes they make me smile and sometimes they make me sad. And don’t even get me started on music…a song can instantly take me back to a different time and place. Some of those moments are forever etched in my mind but you will have to wait to hear about them.

The reason for all these flashbacks to a simpler time could be that I now just have more time in my day to reminisce. When the kids were little I was so busy trying to just get through each day that I didn’t have time to simply enjoy the moment. This is no excuse, but I think we get so caught up in life and are so stressed trying to provide a home and get everything done that has to get done we are just too tired to enjoy the little moments along the way.

I also think as we age we learn to appreciate things we once took for granted. When you are young you have the sense that you are invincible and that things will always be the same. But things do change, buildings are torn down, people move away and we lose those we love. I will see an old house alongside the road and think to myself, that house used to have a family living there, where are they, what happened to them? Were they once happy? Did they enjoy the moments of their life?

All we can do at this point in our lives is make new memories, enjoy each day and keep going forward. We can love those close to us and let them know how important they are. And we can try to make a difference in their lives and make each moment count by spending time with them. Time spent with those we love is the best time of all. And think of it this way, one day in the not too distant future, we will be their memory. Let’s make it a good one.

Someday, many, many years from now, when people reminisce about me I want them to think that I simply made them laugh.

How do you want to be remembered?

“Memories, sweetened thru the ages just like wine, memories, memories, sweet memories.”