Thanks For The Memories

Several months ago, my parents agreed to watch our girls for a few days this summer so my husband and I could enjoy a kid-free vacation. Last week, we took them up on their offer and dropped our little llamas off in Oklahoma before heading to Missouri.

We decided to go to Branson after discussing other, more exotic locations because it was close enough to drive and it was familiar. I didn’t realize just HOW familiar this Ozark destination would feel, however, until we arrived and began driving around town.

You see, my grandfather “discovered” Branson. He loved to vacation there long before it became so popular, and he felt completely at home amidst the country music, friendly people and stunning natural beauty. He used to take our entire family to Branson once a year and I have very fond memories of swimming in the hotel pool, attending shows starring the Foggy River Boys or the Baldknobbers or the Presleys, taking a boat cruise on the lake and riding a waterslide for the first time – sharing a mat with my grandfather, who had more fun than anyone in spite of getting sunburned on his balding head. Branson has grown and changed so much since those family vacations…and yet I still noticed landmarks on this trip that took me back to the late 1970s and early 1980s in an instant.

Then it hit me. Just as I was soaking up the nostalgia and fondly remembering times spent with my grandparents in Missouri, my girls were bonding with THEIR grandparents and making their own memories in Oklahoma. Memories like going to Kiddie Park. Learning to putt a golf ball at the country club. Changing into 30-year-old dance recital costumes and staging a fashion show in the living room. Eating watermelon in the backyard.

These experiences serve more than just entertaining the girls for a few days. They are forming memories and relationships that will last a lifetime. I know, because I was blessed enough to have those same kinds of experiences with my grandparents when I was young.

I found and loved this quote from the TV show The Wonder Years, and I suspect it was delivered by the narrator who offered insight and observations about events in the life of Kevin, the lead character:

“Memory is a way of holding onto the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose.”

What a priceless vacation souvenir for all of us…