Every Day Matters: roses in december

J.M. Barrie said, "God gave us memory so that we might have roses in December."

Memory. Memories. Today I am ever so thankful for my memory, and memories in general. I read that memory is the capacity for retaining and reviving facts, events, impressions, etc. I love that! Through memory we can not only retain, we can revive our feelings, impressions, joys, laughs, loves....

Of course, this is not always a fun thing. Sometimes it's super painful and all we want is to be able to forget. But, you know what? I will totally accept all that kind of pain and capacity to revive the bad when it means I can bring back to life all the good.

I never want to not remember. There is far too much love and beauty and heart-bursting happiness that I never want to lose.

Kevin Arnold on the Wonder Years once said, "Memory is a way of holding onto the things you love, the things, you are, the things you never want to lose. It's so true.

Today, I ran across a few photos from a family vacation a couple of years ago. It was only 10 photos, 10 out of hundreds, probably even thousands, I took that week. In this tiny representation, people were missing, as were so many of the things we did that week. But, still, those 10 photos brought it all back. I revived, and relived, the whole, magical week. The feelings, the laughter, the smiles, the sounds, the smells...all of it.

And, today, I'm thankful for that. The magic of memories.

So, here they are, little pieces of the things I love, the things I am, the things I never want to lose....