Snapshots

Moments frozen in time. Some are fairly recent, but some are more than fifty years old. Whether new or old, they are just about all happy. It is difficult in fact for me to think of an unpleasant memory easily. Even past relationships that failed and unpleasant life events I’d sooner forget, it seems I have forgotten when it comes to the negative. All I seem to remember is the happy times. Traumatic events come to me if I force my mind, but the tendency is to remember only the good things. I think it is a way our bodies protect themselves. I thought about this as I watched a beautiful tribute video that honored my Uncle Tom who went to his reward this past week. The most Godly man I ever knew. That said a lot since there are many such men (And Women) in my family. I’m sure he is now once again by the side of my Aunt Darlene. I have many pictures in my mind of the two of them during the summer, that my sisters Theresa, Pam, and I spent with them and my grandparents in southeast Missouri. In a small town just a little over two hours from St. Louis. Time spent with them, my grandparents and my cousins, Rhonda, Robin, Dan, Brent and Shelly, along with my Aunt Sue and Uncle Teddy. Those are among the best memories of my youth. Not to say I had a bad childhood. We were poor, but we managed and had each other. My mother, and eventually step-father Rick, raised my two sisters and me. I think my siblings and I were what people would call Irish triplets. I am the big brother, Theresa is in the middle, and Pam is the baby. Later, Pam would be replaced as the baby of the family with the birth of our brother Chris. I should say step-brother although we just looked at him as our brother. Chris wouldn’t come along until I was 15 though. That summer we went to stay with my Uncles Tom and Teddy, and Aunts Darlene and Sue I think I was around seven or eight. Since my parents were divorced and me being a tender-aged child, I don’t mean any disrespect to my cousins, but my Uncles and Aunts were like parents to me. We played in the nearby creek, spent Sundays in church, and made memories that are with me yet this day. If I could go back to any time in my life, that summer would be my choice. An old song by Cher comes to mind, If I Could Turn Back Time.

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