Friday, August 6, 2010

Friday Five: Memories

From Sally at RevGalBlogPals

This year Tim and I have planted and nurtured a vegetable garden, and I have just spent the morning preparing vegetables and soups for the freezer, our veggie garden is producing like crazy and it is hard to keep up with, that said it'll be worth it for a little taste of summer in the middle of winter :-). That got me thinking of the things I treasure, memories are often more valuable than possessions. How about you, can you share:

  1. A treasured memory from childhood?
  2. A teenage memory?
  3. A young adult memory?
  4. A memory from this summer?
  5. A memory you hope to have?
Bonus- a song that sums up one of those memories

Memories. I'm not sure memories are always good. There are many in my denomination who cannot let go of the memories of the church in the 50s and refuse to consider a church that can be different. They remember the time when everyone went to church, when everyone dressed up in their Sunday best, women wore hats and gloves.

There is a video going around with syrupy music: Do You Remember? The games of childhood. But it doesn't remember when the pools were closed because of the threat of polio or my childhood friend who got polio. They don't recall the little girl with beautiful blonde hair who was a patient of my dad's who had leukemia. I remember asking my dad if she would die and he said yes. I remember crying over a little girl I had just seen. It was a time when African Americans couldn't even go to the pool. It was a time when women were expected to stay home and raise children. It was a time when women in almost all denominations weren't ordained.

One day, in forty years, there will be another video (or some other thing that you and I will marvel over) mourning the loss of these innocent days of the 2010s.

But, I digress. Memories can be good. They can help us through times of trouble. They can enrich our lives. Without memories, we could not be who we are.

So, to the Friday Five:
A treasured memory from childhood. Getting Duke from my Uncle Jim. My favorite uncle. He had taken care of me when I was a baby (I really don't remember that), but he had so much affection for me. He had a collie who had puppies and gave us one. A beautiful brown collie we name Duke I think because his mother was Duchess.

A teenage memory. Anguish, anguish, anguish is about all I remember from being a teenager. I had such a crush on a senior when I was a sophomore. One time he came over to talk with me and I couldn't say a word. Not a word. He was so good looking. (He later got old and fat, but don't we all?)

A young adult memory. My son. Watching him grow and play. He was such a cute kid and really smart (aren't all parents' children cute and smart?) I don't want to embarrass him.

A memory from this summer. Yesterday, in the Committee on Ministry meeting being prayed over by people who love me.

A memory I hope to have. Lying on my bed, surrounded by people I love, saying good bye for the last time, thinking, it has been good.

Perhaps my favorite song from my Habitat days. There was a Habitat video that used this song.

6 comments:

Robin said...

Yeah, I had a REALLY hard time coming up with a good teen-age memory!

Great and interesting play!

Sally said...

love it- as for teenage angst, isn't that what being a teen is all about?

Processing Counselor said...

I haven't done this one yet as I was too busy blogging about stress. Teen years were pretty stressful, weren't they? We'll have a stressed out teen staying with us this weekend

Sharon said...

I appreciate so much your first paragraphs as a prelude to your memories, which touched me in familiar places. I have resisted doing this one because I'm not sentimental about memory/memories. You have inspired me!

PrJoolie said...

wow, thank you for naming some important truths about nostalgia. Very much enjoyed your play.

Rev. Sharon said...

I adore the title of your blog... *grins happily*

Your play today is really great--I love to read things that make me go 'Hmmm!' And thanks for commenting on my post. Sons are indeed wonderful. :)