Cherish Memories

“Cherish memories” is another one of the reminders my mom left on her list of important life lessons. One grand project she undertook was to scan hundreds of physical pictures spanning forty-plus years of photographing life’s events. She was behind the camera a lot when I was young and captured moments to look back on forever. I spent hours scrolling through photos after she passed; reliving celebrations, events, and milestones. There was even a box of DVDs that she kept with home videos that were migrated from earlier VHS storage tapes. The videos include Christmas mornings, swim meets, soccer games, band concerts, vacations, and more. I only wish she was in front of the camera a little more often, but her presence is felt nonetheless.

She also kept a folder full of handwritten notes received from friends, family, and of course from me as a young boy. Isn’t that what moms are supposed to do, keep all kinds of things? Maybe. But I know she genuinely cherished the memories and sentiments of the written word. From birthday cards to anniversary messages, and even long-form handwritten notes from friends, all were special to her.

My mom also spent a few months one year researching her family’s ancestry. She created a three-inch binder full of her discoveries. From marriage certificates to military draft registration cards, she found so much evidence of where and how people lived in the generations prior. This connection to the past was important to her and it will be available for my children and all of our descendants to come.

One final example of her commitment to cherishing memories was a notebook she kept with details from my first seven years of life. This included milestones such as when I said my first word, what my first word was (money), my likes and dislikes, and even birthday celebration recaps. She was quite the historian.

I love to look back on these words she wrote and think about what I will do as a father to preserve and cherish memories going forward. Although so much in the world has gone digital, there’s something about the analog, physical, and tactile nature of certain treasures like a letter from an old friend, or a newspaper article clipping from years ago. So I want to remind myself that it’s important to remember not only to snap a ton of pictures with my smartphone but also to save physical representations of important events that bring meaning and vividness to closely held memories.

So long for now.

-Felix