Places I Remember

My long term memory is pretty good. My short term memory doesn’t like me. It must be so because it’s never there when I need it! A friend once told me, “You remember everything!” In fact, we reconnected in the past year, and the memories of our childhood days came flooding back. It was pleasant and painful at the same time. Very often, “Memories (as the songwriter said) light the corners of my mind.” I’m one who often reflects on all of these memories – the good, and the not so good. Some people take the past, people, and relationships and frequently move on – putting all of these behind them. In some cases, that’s necessary. In others, you lose a part of who you are and how you’ve come to be that way. That’s not me. I’ve learned from all of these experiences and relationships. They have formed me and shaped me, the painful and the sweet, and I don’t want to lose those memories.


A good part of my life has been composed of losing contact with people very dear to me. Sometimes it has been because of death, other times because of relocation, and then there’s the times of just parting ways because of the inability to see eye to eye and the discomfort of trying to communicate but having that ‘thing’ between the two. It’s been several years now that I finally concluded that these ‘losses’ were God’s way of teaching me to not hold to tightly to people, places or things. That’s an especially important factor if you’re in ministry, because when God tells you to move on, you must move on.

In the last few years of his life my daddy seemed to be haunted by the memories of his past. Strangely enough, his memories of fighting in World War II kept hidden in the deep recesses of his mind, possibly because those memories were so unspeakable. But I would often go in the Nursing Home to visit him, and he’d be reliving the death of loved ones from long ago. One that he relived over and over was the death of his Aunt Grace, who was very special to him. He would tell me he really needed to go to her funeral and how much he was going to miss her. Another time, it was his cousin who had passed away at the age of 34 and left 3 young children. It was daddy’s responsibility to inform those kids that their dad was never coming home again. He would say over and over, “That was the hardest thing I ever had to do.”

A friend from long ago once shared the lines of a song with me, and it often comes to mind as I reflect on all of those with whom my life path has crossed. As I see the worlds of this song, I see faces…relive experiences…feel warmth….or pain…I often even laugh. Why? Because of the wealth I have in people who have touched my life in some way that has forever left an embedded image in my heart and mind.

There are places I remember all my life,
Though some have changed
Some forever, not for better
Some have gone and some remain.
All these places have their moments
Of … friends I still can recall
Some are dead and some are living
In my life I loved them all.

Often when I’m in the quiet places, my mind wanders back to those in my past that I’ve loved deeply, most of them now gone, and I ache to see them again, to communicate with them. Maybe they’re not gone, but we’ve lost touch. I’m not sure which is harder, those who have passed on, or those with whom I no longer have contact with. Either way, when I’m reflecting on them, I’m thanking God that He ever allowed our paths to cross. I have such a rich heritage of Godly people who have come into my life that have forever altered me and have been the bedrock of foundation thru Jesus that I’ve been able to build upon. I’m so thankful for those dear people that God placed on my path of life that has left me with good memories.