Topic of the Week

Memory Lane

(In honor of Father’s Day, this week’s newsletter is a trip down memory lane itself)

In celebration of Father’s Day, my sister, Lisa, had a great idea. At her suggestion, we all piled into a car one afternoon, went to pick up my dad, and took him on a surprise trip down memory lane. We visited the neighborhood where we grew up, saw the home we lived in, and reminisced about our favorite memories – the things we did, the neighbors we spent time with, and even the trouble we got into as kids.  It was a wonderful experience and the trip gave me a chance to learn things about my dad and my siblings that I hadn’t known before.

Once we left the neighborhood, we drove around town remembering other childhood landmarks – fields where we played outdoors, candy stores, summer beaches and our friends’ homes. Then we had dinner at our favorite family restaurant – The Red Wing – a seafood and pizza restaurant where my mom and dad were able to feed all nine of us for less than $20! Ah, the good old days…

Later in the evening, when I arrived home after our trip, I thought about the old neighborhood and how our perspective shifts over time. The first hill I ever road a bike down, for instance, seemed like a ski slope back then. In reality it’s a small, gentle incline. Our family home felt roomy as a little girl even though it was a small three-bedroom ranch where I shared a bedroom with three sisters.

During our visit, I also found clues to the things that I would feel passionate about later in life.  Hanging out with friends would become a passion for community building.  Spending summers at the beach would lead me to find inspiration for my books while writing by the sea.  Or, playing outside all day would lead to cultivating a spiritual connection to animals, trees, birds and flowers as an adult woman.  I even remembered planting a vegetable garden when I was eight years old – something I started doing a few years ago when I created a deck garden in our back yard.

While our past doesn’t define our future, it certainly shapes it, and I’m glad I took the time to revisit mine. Yes, we all have pleasant and not so pleasant past experiences, but there’s gold to be found in the mining of each one. To see what I mean, why not take a trip down memory lane yourself? This week’s challenge will show you how…