Can memories be put into a vintage context? They are, after all, remembrances of the past, and although intangible unlike a fine sterling silver teapot or a simple milk jug your grandmother once brought to the table each morning which conjure up memories upon sight, they can be just as powerful in moving our hearts.
I think memories can absolutely be put into a vintage context. Yet by being intangible, they are thus necessarily more difficult to retain and to pass along as stories from one generation to the next.
Eleven years ago, my parents took our family to Europe for the first time. Summer 1998 it was, and at that time the world was so different. The economy was booming, and Americans were loved the world around. It was, I think, a time which will not be repeated for some time, but that is left for perhaps another blog at another time. We traveled to Europe partially because the economy and stock market had bestowed their riches, and also to celebrate my father's 50th birthday. While we traversed the continent over eleven glorious days, I took it upon myself to be "the note taker". I carried my notebook everywhere, constantly scribbling notes on history, geography, sights, sounds, what we ate, what we liked and didn't, etc... When we returned - all changed forever, our eyes and minds being opened up to the rest of the world - I converted my notebook into a book, "Across the Ocean" and I gave each member of my family a copy as a Christmas gift that year.
Last night, I pulled the book out. I haven't looked at it in years. But inside that book, along with our stories during that trip, is a story of family. And I wanted to recapture some of those memories, both of trip and of family at that time...
On this Thanksgiving, as your family gathers for feast and friendship, create new memories of course, but share a "vintage" memory. Breathe new life into a special time in your heart and bring it into the now. You may be surprised where it leads.
As I close this post, let me share with you a passage taken from my book. It is a passage that, to me, sums up living ~ experiencing new things, sharing time with family, about remembering life's details. It was June 30, 1998 and we were in Lucerne, Switzerland celebrating my father's 50th birthday:
"We sat outside for another round of beers, having a ball, and talked about us a family and how unique it is to be so close. It was a wonderful moment in a wonderful place and we will all keep it on our hearts forever as a reminder of the love we share for each other. Then we went to sleep.
I cannot describe how I felt going to bed that night. Everything in the world was... "right". I had seen things this day for the first time ever in my short life and I had felt emotions of total joy and happiness like I had never felt before, both of which proved to me that there is so much more to life than our daily routines. Real life lies in single brief moments - sometimes not even able to be remembered after a good night's sleep, some taking permanent residence in the heart. But the key to life is to seek out new experiences and to allow life to come to you as it is meant to.
I am convinced that we are put here to remember the details: the diving swallows, the sheer surprise and elation emanating from a father's eyes never again to be recreated, the bright vivid flowers dotted around the riverfront. These are surely what builds the soul and mold of a person - not merely saying, "I visited Lucerne, saw its mountain, its lake and bought jewelry." These are empty phrases. What about Lucerne, what about its mountain, what about its lake - what moved you? What will you remember for the rest of your brief time here on Earth? What experiences will you hold close to your heart for all time? These answers give the empty phrases substance just as they do one's soul. These answers are the tiny details that, when put together, produce one's mosaic of existence, and this is why each person is so different, simply because what moves one person will necessarily not move another, yet both can be shaped by the same experience in a different way. Many millions of people visit Lucerne, but no two people walk away with the same details, the same memories...
Perhaps this is why Europe touches people so - because it allows people to notice the details. It allows people to to live life the way it is supposed to be lived: free and full of emotion, taking delight in the way sunlight hits a steeple of a cathedral, the rhythmic sound of horses and their carriages echoing through narrow cobblestone streets, of stepping on a stone step in a palace hundreds of years old that has been stepped on by other humans who wrestled with the same hopes, dreams, fears, loves and hates that life brings to every individual regardless of time - or of seeing a mother's dream of falling in love with a treasure in a jewelry store window and then actually owning it come true.
As the years put more and more distance from this life-awakening journey, Lucerne will recapture every emotion in the blink of an eye, bringing forth tears of love, remembrance and camaraderie, but also tears of longing, wanting to relive this time over and over again eternally, never ceasing to revel in the details that form one's soul."
Be thankful for everything you have, revel in the small yet beautiful details - and allow them to be preserved in mind and heart to be retold in future stories.
Happy Thanksgiving!
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