Memories are to be Cherished

Jul 31, 2010

Memories are to be Cherished

Although my sons are now 26 and 31 years old, thinking of them often brings back images established during their first ten years of life. Moments of intense bonding tend to be the most precious memories.

When Jacob was six, he and I went on a camping trip together. We parked the camper at water’s edge and spent the night listening to the waves lap the sandy shore. I woke early to a spectacular sunrise over a placid lake. Quietly leaving the camper I took a walk along the shoreline.

Shortly, Jacob appeared running toward me, jumped into my arms, and we were off to one of the best days of my life. Jacob and I had each other’s undivided attention. No cell phones, no customers, no film editing. Just the shear pleasure of each other’s company near a calm lake punctuated by charcoal burgers and storybooks.

I took pictures of Jacob that day. We spent an hour or so positioning him in various poses. Today one of those pictures still dominates my office. Viewing it always brings back strong emotions. No matter how old he gets, or where his life journey takes him, for me that photograph is a touchstone of our relationship. What I experienced that day precedes all else. That photo reminds me that I will love and cherish him no matter what. We bonded that day in a way that was a culmination of all the many bonding experiences we enjoyed together.

During those few times when we all get together for holiday feasts, the conversation often returns to their childhood days. Their minds are filled with meaningful memories of times that I passed off as mostly meaningless. One never knows how an act or event may create a sustained and cherished memory in someone else’s mind. When my sons describe these, some I don’t recall. Others take on a new meaning for I come to see them in a different context. It is such a pleasure to experience one’s children as adults!

Family vacations were difficult to schedule and often broke our budget. Yet today I wish we had taken more of them. It was during these vacations when the children had their parents’ complete attention that many of their cherished memories were formed. Once they leave home, it’s the memories that sustain us, that remind us that we are a family.

Memories are there to be cherished. I hope that when it is time for me to leave this world that I do so with my mind filled with the memories of our family times together.

-Burton Buller