Spending Treasure #3 - Remembering Moments

“We do not remember days; we remember moments.” I don’t remember who it was that said those especially poignant words. A friend from college days gave me a plaque as a gift with that quote scripted across a beautiful photograph of a little girl in a peaceful meadow picking wildflowers. I don’t remember the day, or the occasion, or the reason for the gift. I barely remember the moment. I mostly remember the person that gave it to me….and though the little plaque no longer hangs on my wall, I have remembered what it said for these past thirty-plus years…(ok, we don’t exactly need to go there).

I was never very close to this friend. He was simply a classmate, and he had received a full-ride scholarship for his basketball skills. I remember very plainly watching him on the basketball court. I can still remember certain moments…like his thick, blond hair freely blowing back as he ran down the court, with a grin on his face. I know he loved the game.

I don’t know why he gave me the plaque. I don’t remember him ever asking me out for a date, or anything like that. I don’t remember spending a great amount of time with him. I remember his Irish setter, Cisco, and I remember he liked to write poetry. I learned a few years after our college days were behind us, that he had committed suicide. I was deeply saddened by this, but it didn’t really surprise me. In spite of that grin, that was so often prevalent on his face, there was something very melancholy about Daryl. He was an oft-times deep thinker, and he sometimes seemed lost in a world he didn’t belong.

But I didn’t intend to write about this friend; I only intended to write about the message on the plaque. I have often thought about those words since receiving that gift; but since I have started this blog, I think about that simple quote even more…mainly because the little glimpses from the past - or moments of memory - are often times learning moments that I like to share. And I don’t mean that I only want to share those experiences with others; but rather, in writing about these moments, the lessons are cemented for me. Yes, they are already written on my heart, but sharing them in writing adds another dimension….like important thoughts written on a plaque that I am not likely to ever forget.

I wish Daryl knew his friendship has stayed with me for a lifetime. I wish I would have been a better friend to him. Maybe if I could be more sensitive to the thoughts of others, I would more frequently glean from each friend and also better share with them the important, treasured moments of life....