of the way we were
April 28, 2008 (Monday)
I was 2 years and 9 months old when my twin sisters were born.* Some people don’t believe me when I tell them I remember seeing them shortly after their birth. They were lying on either side of my mother in her bed. I was in my highchair, looking at the two little newcomers and wondering about them. In my childish mind, I was making comparisons between little people and big people, looking at my hands and my father’s hands, thinking in pictures. If you don’t believe I remember that, maybe you’re right. I’ve read recently that many of our memories are false, or at the least, faulty. But, false, faulty or true, those are my memories.
We should train ourselves to remember the good things in life. All of us have some very good times to remember, many of them from our childhood, but some from recent days. We love the old photographs, and when we see them, they conjure memories associated with them. That’s good.
We should also train ourselves to forget the bad things. We should learn from bad experiences, but not dwell on them. Sometimes bitter experiences are planted like seeds in our minds, and are constantly producing new fruit for rumination. Like the Apostle Paul, let us say, “Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth to those things which lie before..” (Phil 3:13).
We should forgive and forget. That’s not my idea. That’s God’s idea. It’s the way He forgives us. Every time I read the gospels, I am reminded once again of what a great emphasis Jesus put upon human forgiveness. It’s His way. It is also to be ours.
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*If interested in reading a lttle more about my siblings, etc., see the Archives, 6-19-2007.
Here’s an excerpt from that blog:
“Tomorrow is the birthday of my sisters, Elva and Melva. I am almost 3 years older than they. Maybe some of the readers of this blog would like to know more about my family. I remember (yes, I really do) seeing my new twin sisters, lying in the bed with my mother, one on either side of her. My parents later divorced and remarried. My mother and stepfather had two boys and one girl, born in 1944, 1949, and 1953 respectively. My father and stepmother had one girl, born in 1945. I am occasionally asked how many were in my family. The answer is, seven children in all: I had two full sisters, two half sisters and two half brothers. The heads of the tribes of Israel were brothers, but not all had the same mother, so some were half brothers. But they are always called brothers in the Bible. That’s the way it is for me. My brothers are Joe Heim and Jimmy Heim (deceased). My sisters are Elva Underwood, Melva Keil, Brenda Jones, and Mary Sanders. Each of them is special. I love them all.”