Honoring Our Shared Experiences

Do you have a way to celebrate your memories?

My family has a memory jar. It looks like a half-gallon mason jar stuffed with scraps of paper, sitting on my kitchen window sill. I was in a crafty mood when I adopted it, so it has a layer of gold glitter on the bottom.

On New Year’s Day, my kids sit with me and my husband as we dump out the jar. Ticket stubs, take-out menus, and old awards plop to the floor as tiny scraps of paper flutter down around them. Those scraps of paper say things like “James- 7 teeth in 1 summer!” in honor of my son’s almost empty mouth. Or they say “Red Skin, Black Tail, & Speed P” so that I never forget the names my children gave the first three fish that we got for our family aquarium. But along with those memories are names. When we are blessed by a visitor from family, friends, or strangers, their name gets written on a colorful piece of paper and put into the jar. So, we also have things that say “The West Family,” so that we can remember how fun and challenging it was to live with 10 extra people for 3 weeks. And we’ll also read “Cousin Simba- blew out his candles before we could sing Happy Birthday.” And we can laugh one more time at our funny, shy cousin who doesn’t like lots of attention. Yes, I have a cousin named Simba. Are you jealous? We remember each guest because they have made our lives richer. We take time to ask God to bless them on New Year’s Day because they have blessed us in some way. I think that when our lives are so full that we cannot stop to mark an occasion, to remember a unique moment or thank God for His sweet goodness, our lives have become empty of meaning for us. Pausing to remember is like stopping to check the map. Considering the impact that each person has had on us, shapes and refines how we use and store the memory.

For this upcoming year, I believe I’d like to have our guests sign their own slips of paper. If they like, they can remark on what they will remember most from their time with us. It’s so important that people know how valuable they are. You, reading this paragraph, can make someone’s life richer by sharing space with them. Your life will be richer when you take time to remember. May you be blessed.

Have a happy New Year.