Remember and Cherish

Just the other day, I was thinking about the relationships we have in life, how long those relationships last and the memories we make through them. We have those with our parents and siblings, growing up. Then there are those with the families we have made by choice, the spouse we chose, and the children we have through that love. And the thought came to my head that, if you look at the big picture, we will have lived with our parents and siblings only approximately 20 years of our entire life. The remainder of those years is spent with those who we have no blood relations with, but a different yet strong bond, our spouse. Our kids will only live with us and share directly (and by directly I mean live in the same house) in our lives approximately 20 years. I'm not a parent, so I don't know that kind of love yet. This is so crazy to me to think about! And I must admit, it makes me rather sad at how fleeting these moments are. My childhood will always ever be related in my head with my mom and dad and brother and sister. Our perfect family, even with all it's imperfections, still to me is just that, perfect. Perfect because it is mine...they are mine. I constantly think of my sister and brother, day in and day out. My sister just got married, and my brother is about to be a daddy. The changes taking place in all of our lives are so beautiful, yet for me they are bittersweet because I miss everyone so much. When we see eachother, they are just "visits". Mom and Dad are in AZ with their spouses, Chad is in AZ and Maloree is in Abilene. So far, yet so close...to my heart.

In thinking about all of this, I began to contemplate those sweet and beautiful memories about growing up. Wanting so much to remember everything, I begin to rack my brain, trying to find those memories that may be buried in cobwebs in the back of my mind. I want to remember them and think of them often, so I don't forget as the years fly by, seeing as how they all took place within the first 15 years of my life. So here are a few of my memory "thoughts". I can remember being a kid and being so completely carefree. I really miss those days! I remember living to play outside after school with my brother and sister, and friends. I grew up in Arizona, so in the summer, we lived in the pool. My memories as a child date back to when I was about three. But obviously as I grew older, the more I am able to remember now. Playing basketball at the neighbor's with the kids on my street, rollerblading in the apartment complex near my house and loving to go over the speedbumps in the street (pretending they were ramps), playing teacher and making my sister be the student, teaching dance and making Mal and her friends learn the dances, talking into my pink tape recorder slash boombox (I grew up in the 80's), sneaking sips of my mom's watered down coke (since we weren't really allowed to have cokes), jumping on the trampoline, babysitting to make money even though I was completely TERRIFIED to stay by myself, selling lemonade in the summertime (people would actually buy too), going on LONG road trips to NM and TX to visit family during the holidays, falling asleep on Saturday nights on my dad's chest when he was home, coming home from school and my mom greeting me while doing a craft project on the floor, accompanying mom to Jazzercise when she was an instructor and staying in the kids room and "stealing" graham crackers, playing Blind Man's Bluff at the park almost every single day.... There are so many things that are popping into my head, but I can't write them all. My point is, I cherish my childhood and I hope I will always remember and hold these memories close to my heart because they really are priceless. And the relationship cycle goes on and on...and the family tree grows...