Days, Numbers, and Times

As I inch up on my 37th (sheesh) birthday, I've been doing some reminiscing on and remembering my life so far. I have plenty to be thankful for, especially good memories. One of my favorite memories of my childhood was when I figured out how to make myself a cup of coffee, lol. I know that sounds strange, but I was a strange kid (and that has not changed much, lolol). Sometimes I think I started out a little old lady, and as I grew up, I went backwards, something like Benjamin Button. These days people seem to mistake me for someone in her twenties, not late thirties (which is totally okay with me).

Anyway, I remember my mother's old coffee percolator, with its little glass bubble on top, where I could watch the coffee gurgling up as it brewed a pot of coffee for she and my dad. And I remember having my own little Raggedy Ann cup and saucer, and a tiny folding table and chair. My mother would set up the table and chair in front of the big old television set in the living room in the mornings and I would have my hot cereal and a little bit of coffee in my cup while I watched the Rocky and Bullwinkle show.

On Saturday mornings, like most kids that age, I was usually up and ready to go long before my parents felt like being disturbed. So I would get up and quietly watch my Saturday morning cartoons. By the time I was 6, I could reach the counter in the kitchen, and one Saturday morning in particular remains in my memory. I guess I must have seen my mother and grandmother do it enough that I decided to go in and help myself. I remember putting a spoonful each of instant coffee, sugar, and creamer into my Raggedy Ann cup (I still have a fuzzy picture in my mind of the little brown and white mountains of crystals overlapping in the bottom of the cup), and I guess I added hot water from the kitchen tap. And voila! I remember how excited and grown up I felt, as I drank my coffee and watched my cartoons, lol, and how I couldn't wait for my mom to get up so I could tell her.

Anyway, savoring memories from the various stages of my life definitely causes me to look forward to those I have yet to create. We often talk about how good things "used to be", and "the good old days", missing them, wishing we could somehow recapture them, because we might appreciate them so much more. But every single day has the potential to stick out in our minds as a great time in our lives. Reminiscing this way could serve as a reminder of how important it is to live and take advantage of every single second, savor every moment, stop and notice how many good things, big and small we are blessed to experience, whatever part of our personal journey we are on. And to make now the good new days.