Short-Term Memory

There are all kinds of things we remember over the course of life. Some big, some small. You remember something that someone else doesn't. We are molded by the experiences that become our memories.

Usually we think of stuff in years past. But what about things that have shaped us more recently? The things that will forever be locked away in our memory banks, but as yet still feel merely like recent happenings.

10 New Memories

1. Getting to show Lake Tahoe to AJ for the first time in August 2011

2. Seeing my Uncle Mark perform and then his death exactly a week later on October 22, 2011. The night of the day he died, how his loved ones all came together in his studio and were there for each other. Truly one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen.

3. On Christmas 2011 when we went to visit family at my Aunt Renee's. My Uncle Scott gave my kids these necklaces. The one he gave AJ was a shark's tooth. My uncle had no idea AJ would love that so much. (Sharks are one of AJ's very favorite things.)

4. Writing a special post to my husband at the end of January this year, not knowing what was coming.

5. The night of March 1, 2012. Well, technically March 2 at about 3:00 in the morning, getting a call from the hospital that Mark's heart had stopped, he was resuscitated and moved to ICU.

6. The way EVERYONE we love was there for us in some capacity the entire month of March. I will never forget how HELD I felt. How my friends hated to leave my side, how family flocked to Mark's bedside. Those memories help keep me going now.

7. My 38th birthday dinner at The Melting Pot in April. My first time. So fabulous!

8. Mark going back to work at the end of June. After what he went through in March, no one expected him to feel well enough to go back to work. He works less than he used to, but still. HUGE.

9. Both of our kids being away from us for over a week for the first time in August. And Mark and I getting to be alone together.

10.  Early memories from the current school year: the way AJ bounds happily in the door each day eager to do his homework and get out to play with his friends. This, from Camryn's Gateway teacher:

Camryn has had an outstanding quarter in my class.  The growth I have seen in her from last year to now has been incredible.  She is a much more confident learner.  I now see a student who is willing to take on all challenges.  In my class she has a solid A, a grade that she has earned through hard work.  I know one of your concerns was her unwillingness to seek help when needed.  No longer the case in my class, she has tremendous drive to complete her work and when she gets stuck she has  been asking for help without hesitation (a huge change from last year).

Come back later this week for the second November Thankful Thursday!