Some 30 years ago, one of the two most influential people I would ever know in my life told me, “Life on this earth is simply the acquisition and accumulation of memories.” From that time until he passed in 1999, he probably only related that concept to me over a couple of other times, none of which had any particular significance to my recollection. Over all that time, even though I acted like I knew what he was trying to tell me, it wasn’t until 90 days ago yesterday that the power and impact of those 12 words made sense. Memories are what I have now. Memories of the other most influential person I would ever know. Memories of Theresa that my dear friend in Portland called “the beautiful spirit.” No one ever said it better… This posting is not to elicit empathy or sympathy. Moreover, it is to provide considered and cautious counsel to all my friends as well as anyone who might read it. With the technology we all have at our disposal, please consider taking the time to jot down a note or two in your phone, your notebook, your laptop or even a piece of paper on occasions that you think something you would like to remember transpires in your life. It is, like so many other things we do as humans, nothing more than a matter of disciple after all. Consider this… Name one person whose memory is getting better with age (notice I did not say “more convenient” with age). During the year Theresa and I served as President and First Lady of the Association of Oriental Bands of North America, I kept a journal for the first and only time in my life. What started off as a series of paper notes in a manila folder that I would scribble down on hotel stationary and bar napkins (go figure) as we traveled around the North American continent, evolved in to a 350+ typewritten page document that is the single most valuable possession I have today. A couple of weeks ago I read it for the first since 2008 and was amazed at how many little things that I had totally forgotten about. Yesterday marked 3 months to the day that Theresa passed into heaven and two weeks to the day that I had quadruple bypass surgery. Today we would have been married 27 years. Like I said, memories are what I have. Please don’t take them for granted.
Posted on: Thu, 16 Oct 2014 15:42:25 +0000
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