Making Memories

You know how you plan events expecting them to go a certain way....but they don't? And in many cases after the event you feel that your effort to make this thing 'awesome' was wasted?

Well this story does well to express those sentiments and how a few short words can so that things don't always have to go to plan to make good memories. :)

On Sunday evening all of our family gathered in our home just to celebrate being together--"all under one roof again," exclaimed my wife.
She had planned a special occasion, with the appropriate theme, "Making Memories."
She had a recording of one of our daughters singing a song about memories.
She had obtained copies of a particular book about the subject as a special gift for each son and daughter.
To make the memory of that weekend really complete, there would be a family picture taken.
Every detail about the evening had been meticulously planned.
It would be certain to create a happy memory for each family member.
Or would it?

While the beautiful song played softly in the background, the living room filled with the noise of laughter of our growing family circle.
The grandchildren couldn't sit still.
They giggled and teased and played happily with one another.
The grownup children enjoyed each other, too, and all talked at once, it seemed, about the days gone by and about the future.
They laughed with each other and laughed at the antics of their children, who by now were having tickling matches on the floor or sticking little fingers into the chocolate mint cake.
It had become frustrating-- and funny!
I don't know which was more frustrating or funny--the family program which ended soon after it began, with Bonnie, the would be "memory-maker,"  sighing, "Oh, what's the use? No one's listening!" or the photo session, with twelve frenzied adults all trying unsuccessfully to pose eleven overactive, squirming children.
Was this a family celebration?
Or was it a family circus?
One thing I knew, this was not the way Bonnie had intended it to be.
She had wanted this time of family gathering to be meaningful and memorable.
A few days after everyone had gone and our house was again very quiet, a little book came for us.
It was a picture book about families, and it was inscribed: "To my warm and loving full-of-fun family--every one of you," with a special note added for Mom: "Here's to the wonderful photos, the wonderful gathering place, the wonderful memories you so lovingly help to create each time we're together."

Later, this note from another daughter: "Thank you for a wonderful stay.The boys haven't been this happy in many months. It has been so nice for them to feel so loved and to have a little extra attention and spoiling. I'm so glad we could all watch together as Clark learned to walk, and that he could start forming his special bonds with loving grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. our children couldn' be more blessed to have such a loving, supportive family network."
Another daughter wrote this:
If you could see my house of dreams,
No palace would it be
But just where I feel happiest--
You are that home to me.
Within that "wonderful chaos" of our family all is obviously not perfect.
There are problems in our family, as in many families--challenges related to serious illness, aging parents, schooling, employment, and others.
However, individual burdens and concerns may be lightened by the power of a family united in mutual love and support and in prayers of faith.
-Rex D. Pinegar -Home First -April 1990 General Conference

Until you next see these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi

The Dream

I was climbing down a cliff face, in competition with three others. Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, and a boy...that was considered odd. (I was harry potter) We were in a competition to see who the real 'chosen one' was. We had ropes around our waists and we were going down one 'section at a time' the basic idea was to see how far down we could get in oneish move. I was doing the best for a while, picking out rocks that had grooves in them on top so I had something easy to hang onto. But then the odd kid went way down below me, as well as Hermione leaving me and Ron above them. And they were almost to the ground. I knew that I had to be the chosen one, so I took a giant risk, and along with Ron -who had the same thought, let go of the rockwall and swung away from the wall and waterfall hoping that by swinging in and out I would end up lower then the other two. Only Ron and I ended up getting tangled and twisted in our ropes, but we managed to disengage ourselves and I ended up further down the rock wall and won the competition, which was a big deal...because the rockwall was a punishment system where only the 'fittest' survived, and it seemed like Filch and/or Snape would place least favored students in the worst areas -where the water fall is- to make it much more difficult for students to get down without falling down and they could move the waterfall back and forth if they so desired with the water falling in timed out sequences.
I was traveling along a path...full of different dangers and random creatures. It almost reminded me of Alice in Wonderland, I was with a few other creatures....different toys and objects that were alive, but not actual objects just creatures of that world. There was a greenish ghost octopus like creature, among other purple and red things. We were at a cliff outlook, and three of the creatures captured the other five or six on an evil person's orders and hung them out over the cliffs. One at a time the creatures were dropped but the ghost octopus female had a change of heart, saying that she couldn't throw any more creatures over the side of the cliff. We mourned the loss of three of the group, but then they appeared stuck together with slime and glue from the various animals with one blowing a purple pink bubble to float themselves back up. I left them and climbed up the hill following a trail and having to avoid the trees that made rain showers, and the fairies with evil intentions, finally I was at the top of the hill, heading for the castle, but I still hadn't made it pass the witches cottage that had a mandarin nut tree outside of it along with another farmhouse looking building closer to me. A person met me up there and told me that I would have to have a gift for the witch in order to get by her. I looked at the nut tree and knew instinctively that in the future I would crave these nuts while I was pregnant and the witch would only give them to me for a price that at the moment I wasn't willing to pay, but the person insisted that I had to sneak past the monster and get some nuts before I could make my way to the castle.....

When the unholy tones of daylight pulled me away....
and I became myself again. :)

-S.N.D