Thankful for Memory and Magic.

I took a little time with Elizabeth to go back over this last year and ‘thank God’ for all He did and got us through and all He blessed us with. In doing this one of the things that occurred was my eyes fell on a favorite photo of mine that is of Elizabeth riding a stallion into the sunset through the shallow coastal waters of North Carolina. I was behind her on a large, uncooperative massive animal that really didn’t care about anything, especially the ‘bug’ on her ‘back’ but she did provide a good stable photography platform. The thing about this large black and white photo is if I take the time to stop and let the ‘image’ sink in, I go back. I go back to the day, the feel, the emotion and the moment that is frozen in time in this image. This is what I love about magic, memories and imagination. I can remember the sound of the plopping noise each hoof made as it drove through the water to the sandy bottom. The warmth of the sunset on our faces, the blinding blue sky with the blinding bright sunlight as our mounts followed the herd back across the waterways to dry land. The smell of horses and ocean with a seabreeze wasn’t something I normally put together and it left a ‘mark’ so to speak in my heart, and mind.

These are things you can’t bottle and sell. The second you try, something about it dies a little. Even in writing about it there is a ‘loss’ of a dimension or something and the only way to really experience it, is through the imagination and magic in our hearts and minds. The moment you pluck that memory out of the fertile ground of your soul it begins to wilt just a little. But you can look back on it, with memory and imagination breathe a little life into the somewhat two dimensional dead event to live in your memory. To me, it’s like the old pop up books we used to read when we were kids. Open the page and the images unfolded in front of you.

In looking back over this year there are so many events that are still quivering with life before they get relegated to the black and white two dimensional imagery of the past to be filed away. One event that goes back to some of my youngest memories is around Christmas Eve.

We had Christmas Eve at my Grandmother Kennon’s house on Marion Drive in Greensboro. The years I remember were through the late 60’s to 70’s. The nights were chilly as winter and officially started, with scarves, toboggans, and gloves keeping us warm as we loaded food and presents into the station wagon and made the 15 minute drive to ‘Grandmother’s and Granddaddy’s house’ on the other side of town. The power build-up was so much electricity for a little kid. It wasn’t the food, though it was, it wasn’t the family, though it was, but in the mind of a little kid, it was presents galore, like cords of wood stacked up and around the tree. The tinsel seemed just a little more magical around the old incandescent lights. (When no one was looking we would pull tinsel off and wrap it around the bulbs and watch it melt). It also ‘seemed’ to take HOURS for the ‘adults’ to stop talking, laughing and visiting before the unwrapping began. Each year this event got bigger, and better and it left a major mark in my heart. The adults were loud, full of laughter and love; the energy of the night was palpable to everyone.  As the years passed, the family continued to grow, but also move. By the time my college years began Grandmother passed away suddenly and so did the Christmas Eve celebration. It wasn’t the same.

It’s not that we didn’t have it, but family moved to Nashville, other parts of the state, and then Grandmother’s passing, which was kind of the heart and soul of of the event, left it hollowed out and very different. However, by the 80’s, my family was growing. My older brother, then younger brother were dating and soon to marry. Kids weren’t far behind and before you know it, the Kennon Christmas Eve tradition was in FULL swing in Raleigh through our family. We’ve had 20 plus years of crazy Christmas Eve events and every one of them is a mark. I can stop, and look in my mind to see the past. Some are black and white, some are faded in color and others are still fresh.

This Christmas Eve we all tried to arrive early because it isn’t about presents as much as family. Also, as adults, we know these events are numbered. We, my family, has seen this build up, to come crashing down, to build up again. Understanding the cycle of life means we know how precious each of these events are. But this Eve, it was interesting in the fact that the ‘kids’, which range from mid early 20’s to upper teens, without prompting, sat down at the kitchen table and started playing a massive,raucous game of cards. They were loud, they were funny, they were in the zone and it seemed they were really having a good time. But what did I see? I saw the next generation start the party, start the process and continue what Grandmother Kennon started with us.

For me, to see the flickering light of the next generation warmed my heart. This is one of those events that I am sure every family has some experience with but I have never been on the end of seeing the seeds, literally and figuratively, start to grow and experience what the next version of this night will be like. It makes me understand, deep down in my soul, much like the image of Elizabeth riding the stallion in the surf, that the painting, the image is on the artist easel and He has started His work.

Peace on your Journey this week.