I’ve been rambling again, thinking about things we mustn’t forget. Our selves, and family and long ago times.

Remembering childhood, growing up, where we lived, what it was like being part of our family. Sharing this with our children and grandchildren.

Remembering others who helped us become better people. Reconstructing our lives, making sense of it. Acknowledging our mistakes, learning from them.

Forging ahead from where we started, learning our selves and how to make ourselves into people we want to admire. Helping others as we ourselves were helped.

Listening to the lessons of childhood, school, war, each decade teaching us something more. Growing up, getting married, having babies, how our lives changed.

Responsibilities, commitments, thinking of others instead of our selves and noting decisions made, and roads we took and how they affected us as young adults.

Moving on in life, working, entering mid life. Observing our own family, making new memories. Our children grew up, went to college, left home, got married themselves. Grandchildren came and time flew by faster.

Before we knew it our golden years arrived uninvited. Are we just going to sit here and let them slip away, unnoticed? How are we going to preserve these magical moments in our lives? Are we able to make a diffrerence in one person’s life? Have we learned from our mistakes? Will we remain rold models in our family’s lives?

It’s true no one can take away our memories. But we need to pass on what we have learned. We must reach out to our families who still need us, to our neighbors and friends, to lend support when needed.

Our lives stood for something. Maybe in some small way we helped build truth and character, kept our children free of drugs, made better schools and better teachers and hope our experiences and our wisdom can be shared.

Before it’s too late, we need to think about this. To preserve our memories, to continue our growth and learning, we need to keep our minds and bodies active.

I wrote this several years ago, funny how it holds true today.

And, I am helping others. I started Adopt A Caregiver, please go to www.adoptacaregiver.org and read about it.

Keep love and kisses in your life. Helene