Forever memories
American actor, writer, producer and director Ben Affleck once said, “Memories, all those little experiences make up the fabric of our lives and on balance, I wouldn’t want to erase any of them, tempting though it may be.”
The single most fascinating game created by Generation X is one question. If you could take one and only one memory of your life on earth with you into eternity, which memory would you choose? And why?
Once asked this question at the end of an interview relating to the late D.C. Metropolitan Police Chief Maurice T. Turner, Jr., Chief of Police Gary Albrecht, U.S. Capitol [Federal] Police, leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. After a few moments, he opened them and said:
“This is a bittersweet memory. We were sitting in his (Turner’s) office . . . and he was talking about his concerns for the difficult situation he was in as Chief of Police where there was possible illegal drug involvement on the part of the Mayor (Mayor Marion Barry). It was a situation that required great political courage and personal integrity. He was wrestling with all this while still trying to maintain that positive view of the city he had. . . This memory of him as the hopeful, forward looking person in the face of some pretty serious calamities will always be cherished by me.”
Another police officer, a young patrolman, had a different answer – one that touched and revealed. During the year he knew this author, he insisted that he loathed his father who had abandoned his mother and 13 children. Then, one night when asked this simple question, his mind and heart turned to the past.
As nearby city fountains gurgled and night lights flickered over Washington’s historic Union Station, he turned inward and said, “I would take this one day that I always loved with me. My dad would take us out at night for ice cream – any kind we wanted. I would get a cone with a double dip of strawberry ice cream. My brothers and my dad and I were all so happy then.” He smiled, those evenings with his dad shining from his eyes — and then his eyes dimmed and his voice faded into silence.
Meditation for the Day
“God gave us memory so that we might have roses in December.” J.M. Barrie
Action for the Day
Today, I will answer this question. “If I could take one memory of my life on earth – and only one — with me into eternity, which memory would it be?
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