Memory Keeper

Oh, where to start? I have decided that I need a place to journal...and it needs to be somewhere a little more creative than a Microsoft Word document. So I guess I'm starting here. This blog will be my Memory Keeper--a high-tech Trapper Keeper of sorts (anyone remember those?).

Today we're in the midst of Christmas season. It's so hard to be constantly bombarded with the commercialism and NOT want "stuff." How difficult it will be to teach Drew NOT to be materialistic. Luckily he has a father who loves and respects the outdoors. Surely that will be a good place to start teaching him...instead of indoors playing videogames.

Of course, it's not the "things" that should make this season so special, but the memories we create with our loved ones. I have some fond memories of childhood Christmas traditions--one of which was the annual Christmas Eve tradition of reading from the hard-cover Saturday Evening Post book. I think it was a special edition of an old magazine. Each year Dad would read a short story by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Wish I could remember the title. I'll have to ask my mother. Anyway, Mr. Edwards successfully waded through a raging, cold winter river to bring Laura and her family gifts from "Santa Claus," as Santa was unable to make it to the Ingalls' home in the country due to the terrible winter storm. Of course that was just the cover for the fact that Laura's parents couldn't get to where they needed in order to get their girls gifts, and Mr. Edwards braved the weather, risked his life, and saved the day. The gifts included a tin cup, a shiny penny, and a small sugar cake. My father's voice was the perfect one to tell the story. What a great feeling to cuddle up next to him and follow the words on the page as he read. Oh, to be loved by a parent.

As I write this I think...I absolutely must have Mom copy the story for me so that I can begin the tradition with Drew this very year. It will be his first Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, after all. Maybe he won't understand the words, but he will certainly feel loved and secure, and hopefully Mommy's voice will be just right, too.