Remembering
I so enjoy the fall leaf colours that I find myself picking up special ones, hoping to enjoy them longer. Even as I press them, the colours begin quickly fading until over time, they too are brown. The other morning, as I was stooping to gather some maple leaves that were a vibrant mix of yellow and red, a lady in her housecoat stepped out on her porch, asking if I had lost something. As I apologized for worrying her and explained what I was doing, I realized what I must look like. Even my explanation of being a Kindergarten teacher didn't seem to make much difference. It seemed like the middle of the night, yet here I was picking up leaves in the streetlight.
On this Remembrance Day, as I prepare to explain to young children about remembering, I realize how quickly memories fade away. When past events are close in time, we retain the emotions and can recount endless details that give colour and life to those of the past. Without stories of real happenings, with details that make the people come 'alive' in our thoughts, we find ourselves just recalling the past without colour. I think it's the stories that need to be passed on to each generation.
This year in our assembly, we will not have a vetern present, making it that much harder for the children to connect the past with their present. In my own family history, I'm realizing that if I don't tell the stories of my grandparents, my children will have lost that link to their past as well. Maybe that's why I'm starting to write, to capture happenings, thoughts and emotions so future memories will be in colour rather than just brown.
On this Remembrance Day, as I prepare to explain to young children about remembering, I realize how quickly memories fade away. When past events are close in time, we retain the emotions and can recount endless details that give colour and life to those of the past. Without stories of real happenings, with details that make the people come 'alive' in our thoughts, we find ourselves just recalling the past without colour. I think it's the stories that need to be passed on to each generation.
This year in our assembly, we will not have a vetern present, making it that much harder for the children to connect the past with their present. In my own family history, I'm realizing that if I don't tell the stories of my grandparents, my children will have lost that link to their past as well. Maybe that's why I'm starting to write, to capture happenings, thoughts and emotions so future memories will be in colour rather than just brown.
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