Monday Morning Inspiration

Last Friday as I was sewing away, a Bryan Adams song caught my attention. He sang, "It was the summer of '69, those were the BEST days of my life." As I listened to the song, I thought, "Really?" The events that represented the best days of his life were buying a guitar and falling in love. From that point, there was so much more to come, a wedding day, the birth of his first child, the birth of a second child, making his first album, having his first song hit the charts and on and on and on.

One of my exchange students once asked if I had the opportunity to be eighteen again, would I? My response was swift and rather surprising to him, "NO!!" He couldn't understand why, he was eighteen after all. I explained that at that time I couldn't do any of the things that I can do now. Why would I go back to a time that was so limiting, just to be eighteen again? My teenage years were full of so much heartache. I had stomach ulcers and because of my diet I wasn't able to participate in so many normal teenage activities. Yes, good events did thread there way through that period, but still, I would never want to go back to that period of time, life is so much better now. He then said, "But what if it could be different?" "Then I wouldn't be the person I am today," I replied.

A friend forwarded the attached video to me this weekend. As I watched it, I found myself longing for that "magical time of the past."  The Marshall Fields store that is pictured here is not the store that I remember. By the time I moved to Chicago, the Field's family had sold the store. The name remained the same, but the store was not the same. Finally, when Macy's bought the chain, the name was changed. The video is fun to watch, even if you were never in the store. What the video reminded me of was standing outside the Sear's that was in my hometown of Port Arthur, Texas and watching the animated figures dance around, a simpler time.   

As I watched the video, I thought of Bryan Adams words, "those were the BEST days of my life," and realized that I was being nostalgic for a time that has been painted over in my mind, painted to look as I would like to remember it rather than how it really was. What brought me back was an email I received requesting the napkin ring pattern.

She was a 6th grade teacher and she wanted the project because her class had decided on that pattern as their Christmas project. They will be making napkin rings for a local senior citizens home and they will be used for the Christmas luncheon . Then I thought about all the other emails I've received asking for the pattern, a 2nd grade teacher who will use it as a craft project for the children to take home to their mothers, church banquets, a garden club party and so many that would like to make the napkin rings for their own holiday tables. Then I thought, "this is the Best Christmas ever!" In a very small way, I will be a part of of all these celebrations.
Yes, it's wonderful to think about the happy events of our lives, but would we be willing to give up all the wonderful events that have happened since? I think not. Rather than saying "those" were the best days, change just one letter and say "these" are the best days of our lives.