Seeing as how it's Christmas time and all, we tend to focus on those memorable moments. If you have kids, you're probably even more concerned about creating memorable moments for the little ones: going to visit Santa, watching a tree lighting ceremony, making sure you get a photo of every happy surprised expression on Christmas morning. And sure, I remember those things really well from my childhood. I do remember all the moments I'm supposed to remember. I remember the Christmas mornings and the vacations, and I remember the summer movies and the picnics on the beach and the January birthday parties.
But I also remember lots of other things too. Each one of us has memories of stuff that probably no one else remembers, not even the other people involved. Plenty of those memories are about annoying things; events that pissed us off when no one else was around to hear us vent. But I'm focusing on the good memories. The happy ones of those unexpected (or even ridiculously typical) things that stick with us forever. Like the time Mom took me out for breakfast after an appointment at the orthodontist, rather than taking me right back to school. Or the time Dad, M, and I played stickball in the front of the house and when we got back inside Mom had made us pudding? Or what about that horrible winter day on the subway when I couldn't take the cold a minute longer and suddenly I heard the sweet sound of steel drums from the subway platform? Or the time I laughed so hard at Gum Ying, I nearly threw up. Or the time I made Holly laugh so hard that she indeed threw up in out kitchen sink. (She probably remembers that one.)
Like Green Day so eloquently said, we "take the photographs and still frames in [our] mind." And those pictures are of the big events: birthdays, weddings, Christmases, family reunions. But the photo album in my mind also has plenty of every day stuff that really and truly makes up life. You only get one birthday a year, but you have to get out of bed and live on the other 364 days too. Christmas comes but once a year, but the opportunity to make memories happens every single day.
So fill up your mental photo album with a snapshot of the unexpected kindness someone showed you on a Tuesday, a picture of that encouraging email your friend sent, a memory of some little miracle that maybe no one else in the world will remember. These moments will become even more treasured than the birthday party that every one remembers, because they're just yours. And you can keep them forever.
~Hero
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