My Story

My mind is a steel trap for significant dates in my life.

May 17, 1987

December 13, 1996

March 29, 2001

October 12, 2006

June 18, 2010

Those are just a few. And it's not just dates. It's events. It's clothes I was wearing. It's weather conditions. It's songs that were playing in the background. It's entire conversations. Vivid clarity.

I've come to realize that God has given me this excellent memory for a reason. I'm supposed to write down what I remember. My husband doesn't have this kind of memory retention. His childhood is a blur. He remembers things from adolescence when I describe them to him. He doesn't remember very many specifics without deep questioning or coaxing. Some of that is personality. Some of it might have been irregular blood sugar. Some of it he doesn't want to remember.

I remember everything, even the stuff I would much rather forget.

But writing it down makes me feel useful. If I learned anything from my Dad besides how to parallel park, it was to write down the events of my life. Sometimes, I secretly wonder if God has given me this because I'm going to die first and Seth will need my writing so he doesn't forget things he wants to remember. Is that morbid? I mean, as much as he talks about how he'll go first with all the risks like diabetes and firefighting stacked against him, I'm not as convinced. But in any case, we both want to accurately remember the life we have shared together and pass it on to our children. I can see God's handwriting throughout our story so clearly that I feel that I must record it to give Him the glory He deserves.

And now that my life is full of children and bill payments and homeschooling, I've found it's even more important to write things as soon as I can. I would not have pages and pages of my sons' hilarious quotes if I didn't write them down immediately. I still mourn the handful that slipped through the cracks of my busy life. I also write down dreams I've had. They're really entertaining to look back on. I have notebooks, dry erase boards, scribbled messages on mail envelopes, and dozens of computer files filled with things to remember. I'm working on organizing it all, but you know how I am with organization.

Anyway, I encourage you to write things down. Great memory or not, there are things you'll want to remember, even (especially?) trials and heartache. Start recording and watch God tell your story.