My wife and I are currently doing some "re-purposing" of our upstairs closet space. With the addition of our little girl Taylor, we need every ounce of storage we can find! We have found all sorts of treasures from years past. Silly gifts to each other from when we were dating, all the way back to weird knick-knacks that I had on my desk as a Jr. Higher. I literally found two huge bags of t-shirts that I haven't worn in six years but for some reason, I kept making the case to my wife that I may need them someday for...yard work... Needless to say, much of those clothes have been either donated to a local clothes closet or tossed.
One of the bags upstairs contained about 20 or so stuffed animals. As I went through this bag, the memories came flooding back to me as if opening a tin of Folgers coffee and remembering every conversation I ever had with my grandma. The silly memories that I have of my college sweatheart giving me a frog for Valentines Day, complete with kissy noise, lead seamlessly into memories just as happy but a little more painful. I held a a little dog that had a shirt on reading "I wuv you so much", and thought about how much I miss my mom and dad, and how much they have missed. I remember buying that dog with my dad for a Mother's day long ago. I am not sure how old I was, definitely somewhere in elementary school, but I can still remember how sure I was that this was the perfect gift for my mom! I remember my dad looking at the dog and looking at me, probably thinking "not exactly what I would pick" but still willingly handing me the money that I in-turn handed to the cashier. (that always makes a kid feel better)
I am a full on grown-up now, complete with a mortgage, car payments, two amazing kids and a beautiful wife. It's easy to get caught up in the busyness of life and forget to cherish those little memories that were such a big deal at the time. I often find myself thinking more and more about my parents as i watch my own kids, especially my son. I think about how much they would have loved playing with him or how much he would have loved playing piano with my mom. It's neccessary for us to take the time to remember these moments that have defined us and formed the ethos of who we are.
I don't really have anywhere that I am going with this...no deep spritual meaning or a verse to go with my thoughts. All I have is a grateful heart to a beat up old stuffed puppy and an amazing Creator who is forever guiding this journey we're on.
