Can you remember the time we.....

Our lives are made up of a series of memories and the strange thing is that we only begin to grasp the significance and the importance of these experiences as we reach the second half of our lives.  When we are younger, we tend to go flat out in all we do and we live for the moment but only, until the next exciting moment appears on the horizon and we try to grab it.  We judge our accomplishments and lives according to the way it makes us feel at the time.  But as life progresses, we tend to judge the experiences based on the effect and influence, that the experience has on other people we care for and love.  It may sound cliched, but we must try to remember our memories.  Nostalgia is defined as "a sentimental longing or wistful affection for a period in the past".  It implies that you have the memory of an experience and you can reflect or dwell on it, with affection.  Maybe it is the place you started your married life at on a honeymoon, or maybe it is the birth of a child or the very first transfer you got, when you started on your own in your law firm.  Each memory has a value to it and we pack these into our brains until a trigger lets us recall and remember the event, or situation.  It is one of the most underestimated abilities we have and only watching elderly people suffer from dementia and alzheimer's, can truly make us understand the importance of every memory we are blessed with.  So tonight I challenge you to share your memories and use them to teach the youth, that have not yet had the chance to develop, or understand the value of good memories.  Be bold in how you explain them and this may either trigger a. fond memory for that youngster, or even be the start of a new memory.  So focus, when you listen to people and what I can truly still hope to learn herein is to give enough time to each person, to share their memories, because they contain hidden gems, not only for the giver, but for the willing and dedicated recipient.