I choose to remember the good times in life and the people that have stuck in my memory.
There are sounds and smells, sometimes a feeling or something we see.
Have you ever thought that each of us is a memory maker? I remember my Mother, I am a mother, I remember my Grandmother, I am a Grandmother. I remember my memories of my brother and I growing up and I am a sister.
I have the power in me to be a memory maker just like you. My Grandmother did not know that the things she did, even the most simple of things would impress into my mind for the rest of my life for me to remember.
Food is a big part of memories.
The smell of food cooking, especially certain food. We associate it with family and friends and in my time it was always based around someone's home.
These were the best of memories. It meant that we were together and do you know that those memories and those smells have helped me through the isolation of this pandemic. I have called upon these memories and smells and it makes me happy just to smell and remember.
My mother would can bread and butter pickles and even though I am not a big pickle eater, I do enjoy on occasion eating pickles and the bread and butter pickles have an attached good memory. So I have been making bread and butter pickles, Charles enjoys eating pickles.
Maybe your mother or grandmother did not make pickles, maybe you did not know your grandmother or you were adopted but you could become the bread and butter memory by making pickles that others remember.
It does not have to be pickles, it could be my Aunt Ruth's button box that I loved to sit and go through her buttons. See, my Aunt Ruth was a simple and gentle woman. It can be anything but there was something special about how the people in my life from long ago seemed to have more knowledge about the things they did. It seems to me that they were people that were focused.
Charles speaks more often of his Great Grandmother than anyone I know. She made such a wonderful impression on him.
Memories can come from someone that washed laundry by hand most of their life and can mentor you and show you how verses someone that has done it twice and now tells you how to do it.
It does not require gifts or investments to make memories, it requires the most simple of things, just live your life so that others are comfortable to be around you and want to be near you.
Children are the most impressionable and can remember the most simple things such as eating at your house in a deep serving bowl with a wooden spoon. Or making cookies.
Our Grandson Sean now an adult thinks it is funny how each time he comes the furniture is in another location.
I think that we have become too generic. We each have our own personalities but we follow others. We follow fashion or try to look like someone else to feel we fit in. All the while, we could be settling into what we really like and who we are.
In the past, my memories were captured by individual personalities and how each of them did things and their specialties and added touches. So much was hand made long ago and this is why so many items had such quality and special touches.
I believe that a lot of people cannot figure out who they are or what they want because we have a couple of generations now that have been so overwhelmed in this processed life that is much too fast to give anyone time to develop properly.
People need more mentors and to be a mentor, it only takes one thing if only being a kind person so that others can see what kindness looks like.
I have always been drawn to very practical people. These that I find steady in what they do. Now I confess that I am not steady in what I do but I normally do not give up.
I chose several years ago to have a well stocked pantry. I am working towards that by home food preservation. This too comes from my experiences in life long ago when this was a common thing to do.
What many people do not realize, because so much today is done fast today, that it is the most simple things we do that can make the most lasting memories.
If there is a lot and constant, then life can become a blurr. But when people have time to slow down and notice life becomes more in focus.
I have a friend that just wants to walk in our backyard. This yard and garden is part of making memories. It is a fun place to be. This year has become the year of the invasion of Blackeyed Susans. Our Gift from nature to get me through this pandemic.
We have never had this slight problem of too many Blackeyed Susans.
We have a jungle garden this year and has made for an interesting year so far.
We can barely squeeze through the paths to get around the flowers and passed the bees that are a constant on the blooms.
Most everywhere we walk is very uplifting with the masses of flowers. They have invaded the vegetables but we are just letting them work things out.
We have made a change at our house, the wall we built year before last to make an apartment in our house we removed because we felt it was restricting air flow around the house and it made this bedroom too far from the bathroom.
So it is once again opened to the hallway. Charles is going to build an artistic door that can be closed when needed. We will be shifting some furniture this coming weekend due to the wall change, I am sure you all that follow my blog are not surprised at that announcement. :)
We are still treating this Pandemic the same as we were, we are wearing masks if out at all and only necessary outings. I did go out to see the doctor about my pacemaker, I was impressed and very pleased at how the hospital was making it safe for all of us to be there.
Please do not let your guard down, this pandemic is not even close to be being over and most possibly getting worse, at least here in America. If it is better in your area, remember why it is better so do prevention measures to keep it that way.
My next blog post title will be The Table Scarf. Grandma Donna
