Don’t Lose Your Memories!

I just finished reading a biography of an author I loved as a child – Beverly Cleary. She wrote the books telling the hilarious tales of Henry and his dog, Ribsy. I was happy to be able to read how she became an author and what led up to the publishing of her books. Beverly remembered with much clarity and detail the events of her life. I’m not sure if she recorded them, but I can’t see how she could have remembered the stories she shared unless they had been written down somewhere. The book was engaging as I read about her memories, each one making up the story she told.

Life is full and fast. The days and years are so full of precious memories, but it’s easy to let each day follow the last and forget those treasures of our lives. When we allow events to slip away unrecorded, we lose those memories like the sun that slips behind the ocean at sunset. We forget the day-to-day events that got us to where we are. We forget the funny quips our children utter. We draw blanks on the details we wish we could recall – all because we weren’t intentional to record them.

Maybe you’re thinking, “I hate to journal!” No worries! Here are a couple simple ways to record happenings and events in just a few sentences that don’t require writing a journal page. These will only take a few minutes, at the most!

1. Write your memories on a wall calendar. The block for the day is a perfect little spot for writing that funny prayer your child whispered at dinnertime, or to record the great restaurant you discovered and don’t want to forget. A wall calendar is slim and easy to save at the end of the year.
2. A “One Line A Day” book. These have spaces for a paragraph a day for FIVE years! I’ve been using the one pictured at the top of this post and it’s nearly full. The thing I love is that when I’m recording today’s events, I can see what the memory was for the last several years.
   My husband just found a new one for me because I’d mentioned that I was nearly completed with my current book. My new one was found in a quaint bookstore, but I purchased my first one at TJ Maxx, and of course you can also find them on Amazon.

Memories are special moments that tell our story.”

Refresh your memories by keeping a log of each day. What story is your life telling? Who knows – perhaps yours could be published in a book some day!