Everybody dies, but how do you want to be remembered? What moments of your life whisper, “Share me”? Your life probably holds a zillion snapshots of memorable stories worth telling. For starters, think back on your earliest fond memory. Think about how this memory helped shape your life. There’s a story waiting for you to share in that snapshot of memory.
For me, I recall walking hand in hand with my mom heading to school for the very first time. Excitement and anxiety bubbled in my little belly, but I skipped along, tugging further and further for my mom to quicken her pace. Mom gently pulled me back to her side and reminded me to slow down before I fell. She reminded me that we would arrive at school shortly. I don’t remember the details, but somewhere in our waiting for entering the classroom, my mother and I exchanged small talk with another china doll looking little girl and her mother. She’s really shy but had a funny laugh. We soon learned that we both had the same teacher. Our mothers kissed us and assured us that they would pick us up after school ended. This memory snapshot lives in my treasure box of nearly sixty years. And for a rare jewel that graces my memory treasure box, we’ve been the closest of friends, even sisters, for fifty-plus years. My kinship with my Aliwoo, as I affectionately call her these days, abounds with fond and dramatic memories untold. This kind-hearted, quiet wonder helped change my life when she invited me to one of her church youth outings. I am forever grateful for that invitation.
On another note, think about how attending home-goings or funeral services pull at the heartstrings of everyone in attendance. Yet, I love learning about those seminal moments that helped alter the dearly departed one’s life trajectory. What about a life-changing moment in your life? What significant event in your life helped change the course of your life? Over time, memory after memory and experience after experience shapes our perspectives on life. Even our personalities become impacted by these experiences. We may share an experience, but our perspectives on this one moment in time impress each of us differently. For instance, the death of a loved one early in life crushes the heart. Yet, one person sees this absence as a catalyst to make this loved one proud. On the other hand, another person becomes buried and immobilized beneath the crushing weight of losing this loved one. In either case, a story worth sharing awaits telling.
Life encompasses a zillion moments and experiences that deserve a snapshot moment. No matter the emotion attached to it, look at it. Learn from it. Grow from it. Laugh at it. Cry over it, but whatever you do, share it. For these are the pieces that make up your story, and your story is definitely worth telling.
Wow this one really touched my heart with just going through this situation. This was just filling for me
Thanks for sharing. We pray that you experience comfort and peace as you navigate toward the path of what must become your new normal.
Earliest fond memory consist of several pictures that all happened between the ages of 3-5, yet I don’t really pinpoint them or the reason I remember. They weren’t major things, yet something I can say, “Oh yeah I remember that!” The snapshot of things I remember on my own is that I was always around people that loved me, and one being my brother whom I call, Brah Brah. It’s kind of funny because I never thought about, “What’s my earliest memories?” As a matter of fact, the first three things that popped into my head was my brother trying to catch our birds and put them back into their cage after he cleaned it. Another thing was when I’d sit with him and watch him play his Nintendo. I love the memory of that, because he allowed me to “play” when he gave me a control that was not hooked up to the Nintendo box and act like I was doing good (now that was fun). The last thing I remember is how he’d hit his head down onto his pillow, and that cause the bed to hit the wall. Now that was annoying to some, because that bang was against the wall was behind the T.V. (that so funny). You know bringing that up make me want to call my brother and laugh about these stories now.
Well switching to reflecting on funerals brings me to thoughts of my Papa’s home-going service. It was there that I danced with my niece to a song that allowed us to show pictures of him and the parts he played in our lives. Growing up I was Papa’s shadow. My memorable times were when I sat in his wheelchair to watch Matlock or a baseball game. And when we were out at the fish bank eating with dirty fingers, or having dirty hands from being in the garage working on cars. One of the main memories are being at the church as he counted the money and fixed things broken. I realize it’s that quality time that I had with both Brah Brah and Papa that makes me understand why quality time is something I give now.
Well I know telling this story just help me realized that I want people to be able to do the same. It’s that time you spend with others, or the time you take to teach lessons that you give others a story to tell when they speak of you. So with that being said, I want to start adding more to my story by sharing my time with others.
Thanks for sharing your fond memories and inviting me into your story. Your story is so worth telling and sharing.