Memories

Though I feel like a 16-wheeler ran over me, I'm enjoying the sweet memories of last weekend with my family.  It makes me realize again, memories are not made without effort.  Sure there are the spontaneous, laugh out loud kind of memories that happen around the dinner table, or on the way to church, or during a family work day at home, but the kind of life-long memories created from family ties usually takes intentional planning and lots of work.

It can be a strain on the budget traveling 10 hours from home to attend a family reunion.  It can be tiring packing, keeping kids content in the travel and keeping a watchful eye on the children in strange surroundings.  Accomodations are usually not as comfortable as home.  Getting home and unpacking and doing laundry and refilling the frig can be challenging as well, as the husband returns to work and the kids want to know why the fun had to end.  

But the effort pays off.  This weekend the grandchildren wrote memories on 3x5 cards of their times with their grandparents.  These were all placed in a box and given as a gift.  That would have been gift enough for my parents.  They laughed and cried as they read those dozens and dozens of card.  They'll be reading them for years to come, and still receiving  joy from them.  

I hope to make such memories for my grandchildren.  Little things like, playing card games, saying funny little phrases, or special foods, or conversations.  They all add up to create a connection that last beyond a life time.  Because of all these little things, and more, my children will be telling their children Grammie and Grampa stories long after they are gone.  

Thanks for the memories Dad and Mom.  Thank you Alina, Tim and Brooke, Joel and Ashley, Elliot and Kate, Jonathan, and David for making being in Maine for the family reunion a priority.  I know it required a lot of effort on your part.  I hope the memories made will mean as much to you as they do to me.