Memories!

What are they? Pictures, Prized Books, Old Dated Cookbooks with the stains of many an ancestors culinary delights spilled on them, knick knacks, jewelry, clothing, dishes or is it the stitches that go into a tapestry made by your mother or the commemorative cuff links that dad received from his company many years ago. What makes up a memory and where do we put those memories in our lives. I recently went to help weed out my parents house because dad is not able to stay in the house anymore due to health issues and general care issues and was faced with the reality of what makes up a lifetime of memories. Is it the tangible things that people treasure and keep or is it just the thoughts that come into our heads when a certain phrase is muttered or we hear a song on the radio or smell something that reminds us of something in the past. I guess it is both and I guess that I have learned that those memories have an odd place in our lives. Some of us place such value on things and dwell on the memories that those things represent. Some of us cherish the other but we all have to put these memories in perspective somehow. How do you assimilate a life time of memories and what do they all mean to us in our lives. This has been something that I have been contemplating since my visit to my parents home. I would love to cherish each and every one of those memories the same way that they did but I have my own memories and perspectives. So where do those things go? Each of us kids took a few memories with us to add to our own memories and we will safe keep those and hope that some day they will become our own kids memories but eventually those memories will fade away as does life.