December 29, 2020 (Tuesday)
As we approach the last few days of the year 2020, our minds take us back to the months of pandemic and all the pain and suffering of those who died with Covid during the year, as well as hardships of various kinds imposed upon just about everyone in our country and around the world.
Our memories, however, are not limited to one year. For instance, I have accumulated 89 years of memories. Thinking about those days and the many types of experiences they brought keeps me busy when I have nothing else to do.
Some of the memories are not so good, like the night in East Texas during WW2 when the car, driven by a friend of my grandparents, slipped on the gravel of old Highway 59, and went tumbling down an embankment, turning over 3 1/2 times and landing on its roof at the edge of a body of water. My two sisters and I were in the car with our grandparents and the driver. No one was killed. The older folks were cut and bruised but the children were just fine.
Other memories are very good, like the day my father came home driving a brand new 1937 Chevrolet sedan. We all took a ride in the car. It was so different from the canvass-topped square looking cars we had enjoyed up to that time.
Parties with kids were memorable, with cake and ice cream, gifts for the celebrant, and games like “pin the tail on the donkey.” Lots of laughter those days as we all surrendered ourselves to times of fun.
Memories come in all shapes and sizes, complete with every emotion from a to z, the bad ones making us want to change the subject, and the good ones bringing fresh joy and happiness to our soul. Yes, indeed, memories are precious.
PRECIOUS MEMORIES
Words: J. B. F. Wright
Music: Lonnie B. Combs
circa 1912
Precious memories, unseen angels
Sent from somewhere to my soul
How they linger, ever near me
And the sacred past unfolds
Precious memories how they linger
How they ever flood my soul
In the stillness, of the midnight
Precious sacred scenes unfold
Precious father, loving mother
Fly across the lonely years
And old home scenes of my childhood
In fond memory appears
Precious memories how they linger
How they ever flood my soul
In the stillness, of the midnight
Precious sacred scenes unfold
I remember Mother praying
Father too, on bended knee
The sun is sinking, shadows falling
But their prayers still follow me
Precious memories how they linger
How they ever flood my soul
In the stillness, of the midnight
Precious sacred scenes unfold
Precious memories fill my soul
As I travel on life’s pathway,
Know not what the years may hold;
As I ponder, hope grows fonder,
Precious mem’ries flood my soul. [Refrain]
Precious memories how they linger
How they ever flood my soul
In the stillness, of the midnight
Precious sacred scenes unfold