As I sit at the cabin I look around and take an inventory of the things on the exposed shelves that were important to my parents when they built this cabin; blue/green insulators from electric poles, fishing poles and hooks, kites, garden hats, hand drawn pictures from neighbor children who now have children of their own, oyster shell ashtrays, Olympia Beer trays, a chest that was resurrected from water-logged splinters. Now there is electric heat and running water and indoor plumbing, but the memories can never be replaced. Even the bottle with barnacles on the outside has a place of honor on the driftwood mantle.

Are we all so busy now racing to our jobs and our appointments at the gym that we can’t take just a moment to meander down Memory Lane? I hope not. Remember what it was like to make S’mores and tell stories around the campfire? Think about what a gift it would be to your children to spend a morning telling them about what you did when you were their age. Better yet, go for a drive and show them where you lived and describe what you did. They will be shocked to realize we didn’t have microwaves or video games in our youth! What we had was a camp in the woods and walks on the beach and times with our friends and family where we actually talked! All in all, not a bad way to grow up.

Kathie Brodie, Hypnotist
www.HarvestoftheHeart.com