THURSDAY THOUGHTS - Happy Memories to Season Our Aging Years

Guest Post:

This past week I had the opportunity to think about and evaluate the importance of meaningful memories in our lives. Some 52 years ago, my mother taught me the most fun Halloween song I have ever learned. She was the chorister in the Primary (our church’s organization for children) at the time. I still remember the words and the tune after all of these years. Part of it goes like this:

When you’re all alone in the country  
And the night is dark as pitch
Don’t cry out without a doubt
There’s no such thing as a witch!

Last Sunday I taught this song to our Primary where I am now the chorister (following proudly in my mother’s footsteps). The children loved it and so did I. I am grateful to my mother for this, and many other memories. She died almost nine months ago and she is sorely missed. Richard L Evans, a noted writer and orator once said, “Pleasant memories are the welcome companion of our aging years.”  I will be 60 years old on my next birthday, so I suppose you could safely say I am aging. Perhaps that is why memories seem to mean more to me as time passes.

For the past 15 years, my husband, Ron, and I have hosted weekly Sunday Dinners for our extended family and sometimes special friends. This past Sunday we had 10 of us who enjoyed dinner on our screened porch in the back yard. While Allie, our 12 year old granddaughter, practiced her back handsprings on the lawn, the rest of us admired Tamsin, our new seven week old granddaughter. We also caught up on everyone’s school and work activities over meatloaf, baked potatoes and apple crisp. Several of us will travel to St. George this weekend to watch Nick, Tamsin’s father, finish the St. George Marathon. These kinds of memories unite a family. They cannot be purchased for any amount of money. They must be created and they are priceless.

Lifting Hearts, has made it possible for women with Breast Cancer to build pleasant memories while fighting this disease and progressing through the treatments it requires. That is what love and support are all about and we, who have benefited from their love and constant care, are grateful indeed. A wise unknown author once said, “While saving for old age, make sure you put away a few pleasant thoughts.” Perhaps as we build our 401-k’s and tweak our investments, we should add another account……a quiver full of happy memories to season our aging years.

Kathy Christensen