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
