325 Degrees

The fondest memories... what makes something stick in our minds, recorded there forever? I was gone from home for two years, with only occasional phone calls, email, and memories ...
Some cannot imagine a church "forcing" young boys away from home at a time in their life that they probably need it most.  I was asked why so many times.   My answer usually surprised people more than the fact that I left home.   My answer was this. "Over the last two years, even though I have been away from my family, I feel closer to them now than I ever did before."   This post examines this phenomena by looking at one specific memory forged week after week for all of my memorable lifetime.  Sunday Dinner.

    I believe that a memory needs to start from certain ingredients.  These ingredients usually include family or friends, with perhaps a pince of board games or travel.  Our Sunday dinner is nearly always roast, seasoned with onion and carrot, and potatoes.

 

The right tools help make things go smoothly... but a lack of them can create memories also... such as lacking a tire iron in the middle of wyoming...  At first sight there is nothing unique or special about a peeler or knives, but when we look at what these tools are making, the become something more. 

Now, when everything comes to the table. its just like that moment when everyone piles in the land-cruiser at some ghastly hour of the morning for the long drive to California... there is an excited feeling, anticipation perhaps of something seemingly ordinary, but actually extraordinary.   Now you have a memory beginning....

 

   

   

The ordinary events in our life, even the ones that seem to repeat themselves so often you could use them as a calendar are the ones that stick. Those memories last no matter the distance and no matter the time. What ingredients, tools and settings create your memories?  To find out you will probably need to learn to see the most "ordinary" things in your life.