PRECIOUS MEMORIES

I remember singing \”Precious Memories\” in church since I was small. My dad led singing in our small church, and it was one of his favorite songs.

Our memories will remain with us forever. We all have wonderful memories of parents, grandparents, children, and grandchildren. Let me share a few with  you.

We were thinking about memories the other day. The ones that stand out and I cherish. The children\’s birthdays and the time spent with the grandchildren. The slobbery kisses and the dandelions brought to me with joy and I put them in a crystal vase. The smiles on the children when they presented me with the dandelion. Precious.

We have four grandchildren, one step-granddaughter, and three step-great-grandchildren.

Dawn is our step-granddaughter. I hadn\’t gotten to know her until she came to live with her dad and my daughter. She was probably fifteen or sixteen. She\’s a beautiful woman now, but she has always given us big hugs. The ones you know she loves you. I love seeing her and getting that hug. They live a good distance from us, and we see little of them, but her daughter gives the same hugs as her mom.

The oldest granddaughter is Savannah. She\’s married to Henry. Her birthday is July 4. For several years, she came to our house on her birthday to see the fireworks. She loved watching them from our front porch or at the park. When she became five, she told us she would now eat green beans. Guess what she had for her birthday dinner? Green beans.

Chet is our oldest grandson. He works for a power company and travels a lot with them, restoring power when storms hit. My one lasting memory with him is a Christmas when his granddaddy played Santa at a K-Mart. He climbed on Santa\’s lap, never realizing it was Granddaddy. Then he went to the toy department and picked out the gifts he wanted for Christmas. He brought them to Santa\’s feet.

Josie is next. She\’s a sophomore in college. She was a quiet child, played by herself, as middle kids do. After we moved here, she came often to spend the night. One day she was helping me make my bed and informed me her mama told her you had to get all the wrinkles out of the covers. Smart mama and daughter. I tell my husband that every time he helps me make the bed.

Grayson is our youngest. He graduates from high school this year. I remember one of his birthdays. His mom had gotten him a lot of little gifts. He was helping me gather all the paper and while we gathered, I stuck all the toys in the pockets of my capris. He hunted and hunted for them and finally saw my bulging pickets.

Memories will always stay with us. No one can take them away. Cherish them always. They are precious.

Kathy Cretsinger

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