Sweet Memories

The things we treasure in our hearts are memories we hold dear to us.  Each of us has a treasure of sweet memories from our past.  As an adult, my sweet memories are the times I spent with my parents, during my childhood years.

 One of my memories was my first bike. This was a gift from my father that he brought home, when I was in my preteen years. I recall the excitement of getting on the bike and falling, before he told me, “You have to balance the bike.” Having him there to give me encouraging words were the results of my learning to ride the bike, within 15 minutes without falling again. MY father was so proud!

Other memories were going fishing, with my parents. The first fish I caught was a catfish. My father took it off the hook, and placed it in a pail of water. He then, told me to touch the fish. When I did so, it moved, and that was a frightening experience. For a short period of time, I refused to touch a catfish. My parents told me, if I wanted to go fishing, I had to take all the fish I caught off the hook; and put the bait on the hook by myself. My father helped me to overcome the fear of touching a catfish. He taught me how to remove a catfish from the hook, without getting poked by the fins.

There are many sweet memories I treasure with my parents, among them are the games they played with me and my nieces and nephews, who are very close to my age. I am the youngest of my six siblings; most were teenagers and young adults when I was born; with the exception of my brother James, who is seven years older than I am.

My parents’ presence at the performances I gave in churches and in school was encouraging and supportive. I grew up on a large farm and enjoyed the space and fruit orchards, fields of vegetables, pecan and walnut trees, cows, horses, dog, and cat.

I am blessed to have had, two parents who loved me. God placed me in their lives, at a time when they did not think they would conceive another child. I lived with my parents until the age of 21, before getting married and pursuing my dreams.

My parents passed away several years ago, within a year apart.

The sweet memories of my parents still live on within my treasure of memories.

Written by Ellen J. Barrier

Please read:  Forever Young @ http://barriersbooksandassociates.com/2014/06/21/forever-young/