Dear Reader:

As we grow older… we come to recognize the significance of the treasured ” carriers of memories” still in our lives. These are the people who knew us when… as parents, siblings, aunts and uncles, cousins, neighbors and schoolmates, church pew sharers, best childhood friends- they all comprise our first initial self- identification stage of life.

This is followed up by close college friends, later teaching co-horts or business friends, club and children’s’ extracurricular activities in sports, dance… the other parents sitting on benches and bleaches with us …supporting our children… and finally fellow retirees sharing similar interests and recreational activities.

The most special ” carriers of memories” are, however the family members and best friends who have grown with us through the varied stages of life… the one who have been there sharing the most difficult experiences with us, the celebrated occasions, the people who can still see the person we were and the person we are. The ones who unconditionally support us.

The nice thing about the gift of age is that we keep accruing friends, who over time, all have lengthy friendships and deeper knowledge and understandings of who we really are …under many levels.

It is important to have these ” witnesses” to our earlier selves because we can’t always remember ourselves alone. An University of Alberta study concluded that ” the perspective through which we recall our own personal memories – either seeing it through our own eyes, in first person, or as an observer in third person, affects the vividness and potency of the memory. Stronger, more potent recollections are perceived in first person.

However, even though we reduce the ” vividness” and amount of emotion we feel, ( in third person) our ability to edit our memories is a good thing. It allows us to grow and it changes how we see ourselves now… especially, with troubled memories, it enables us to learn and move forward.

So until tomorrow… Let us be reminded daily to cherish our ” carriers of shared memories ” -the people who can still remember …what we remember …from our life’s journey to date. Who still love us…

Today is my favorite day-Winnie the Pooh