80-Don't Let Your Life Fade Away

How many times have you been sitting alone, seeing a child somewhere or an adult do something or just letting your mind wander and it makes you think of something that happened in your life in the past? The thought flits through your mind for a few wonderful moments. They may be good or not so good memories. But, just the fact that you remembered a piece of your past is wonderful. It is something you should treasure. Record those little memories somewhere so that they will never be lost. That memory may never come back another time in your life. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but if that picture is in your head and you trust it to always be there, you may never see that picture again and wish you had used those one thousand words to remind you of that picture.

I have so many memories of my life and there are times when they are so clear and vivid that it is almost like watching it on some TV show. I have talked to other people that don’t or can’t or won’t remember their past. They have selective memories. Sometimes it’s because something happened that the person chooses, subconsciously or otherwise, not to remember. But that blockage just might be hiding some wonderful thing that happened too. I have been talking to my sister about my memories and when I bring certain things up from the past, it will sometimes spark something in her memories. She tells me that she is really thankful for my bringing our past years back to life even if it is only for a brief moment. But then, that’s why I am writing this. Once written, it is no longer for just a brief moment.

My point is, when you remember something, write it down. Not everybody keeps a diary or a log of their life. At my age, 71 now, I really surprise myself and others with how much of my life I am capable of recalling. I am actually doing this for my kids and grand kids just in case they ever get curious about how I grew up or what I went through in my younger years. Maybe this won’t be exciting or thrilling, but what I am hoping is, it may give other people the idea to keep and record or even to try to recall memories, not only for themselves, but for their kids and grandkids.

I would love to know more about my dad and mom in their early lives. I know that my mother started writing her life story but we don’t know what ever happened to the manuscript. She passed away and my sister was able to find only one chapter of her life. I read that one chapter and I wanted to read more, and now I feel cheated because I never had the opportunity to really know my mom before I was old enough to recall things about her. She had let someone else read the story and didn’t get it back before her last days.

But again, don’t let your past be lost and forgotten. It will matter to someone. I have always felt that my life was too insignificant to matter to anyone, and maybe it is. I agree that I haven’t had an exciting or unusual life. Since I started writing, I found out different. It matters to me and I realize it just might matter to my children and grand children some day.

That’s what inspired me to write and record my life. I want my kids and grandkids to know that I didn’t have it all that easy, and not all that hard growing up, and then later, how the rest of my life went. I also want them to know I was no angel either.

My story starts when I was about 4 years old, my earliest memories. It takes us through the divorce of my dad and mom, and my mother getting married to my step-dad. We go through the years and all of our moves, all of the schools I attended and different friends and girlfriends in my life. All of the hardships and good times spent with my mom, step-dad, 2 sisters and half brother. Through the tough times we endured when my step-dad left. This story will take you all the way through to the end of my high school years and end when I enlisted in the Air Force. There will be a continuation after that because that is another whole story.

I am not going to publish my story here; it would take to many pages. I just hope this little excerpt will inspire others to start recording their lives and experiences for their families.

Greg