MEMORIES

Do you have a memory from your childhood that is so random and seemingly unworthy to be remembered but it is solid and fast in your mind, embedded deeply along with the colours and the people and everything about that moment? I have many and I am starting to collect memories of MY children’s childhood that will be just as indelible.

I remember the moment when playing became for real. I remember the exact time when I looked up suddenly in a panic because the house was quiet, the TV was off and the boys were nowhere to be seen – and searching frantically for the damage that was most surely to be done (there is precedence for this feeling of anxiety so I’m not the bad guy here) and low and behold there they are, playing quietly together for over 30 minutes – ALONE. Sweet grace of God.

I will remember when the playing became purposeful and the games and play-acting started to last all day. I know exactly when they started playing together, not just beside each other, but really playing TOGETHER, with themes and processions and roles, and a story and a purpose. When I have a part in the play now, I am only in one act or the narrator or play some other very small part – it is a blessed thing when your children can play independently.

A friend of mine remembers the moment watching her son run – when he stopped running in that awkward toddler gait to a full-out stride of a young boy – a memory the boy will never share but momentous in a mother’s witness to the evolution of her offspring. When she shared that with me, it made me more watchful of the little things – realizing that just because they’ve learned to walk and talk, that there is still so much more, so many more little moments of glory and magnificence if we but take the time to notice!

So, here’s to you and your childhood memories, and another cheers to you and the memories of the stories of your children.