Capturing memories, then and now

Normally, I don't go to events on the campus of Southeast Missouri State University, but I made an exception last week.

Marge, my wife, received an award for working at the university for 30 years. That's quite an achievement, I think.

Overall, I believe she has enjoyed her time working at the university. I would imagine there have been times when she wanted to switch jobs, but she stuck it out. I like that.

Bob Diehl and his daughter, Cathy, sat at our table. Bob was celebrating 25 years. That is awesome as well. I met Bob when he taught an HVAC class I took at vo-tech.

Awards or honors were bestowed on a bunch of people. There were a number who were retiring, with many of them being honored in some way. Some of those retiring were given a rocking chair, which I thought was neat. Most received some kind of pen.

A number were honored who had worked there 10 years, some for 20 years, some 25, a few for 30, fewer yet for 35 years, very few for 40 years and only one for 45 years. Pretty neat.

I didn't know hardly any of them, so I was watching the people more than the ceremony.

Almost everyone there was taking pictures with their phones. A number were taking selfies with their friends or simply taking pictures of their friends.

Bob and Cathy took a selfie of just the two of them. It turned out to be an awesome picture, a visual reminder of an event in their lives. The only real legitimate camera there was the one the photographer had.

When we went to the Willie Nelson concert a few weeks ago, virtually every person had an iPhone or something similar to that.

Many were taking pictures or videos. Some were taking selfies of themselves and their friends.

All through the concert, there were flashes of light as pictures or videos were taken for visual reminders of the concert.

Back in history, these pictures of events were drawn or painted or orally explained or written down.

Someone with skill would draw or paint a picture of the event as a lasting reminder. This could be a simple drawing where the people and animals were stick figures. It could be very complex, like some of the famous paintings from years gone by.

One that comes to mind is "The Last Supper." Some events were described in detail in words. Some of these writings were in the form of songs or poetry. But there also were oral descriptions or oral traditions.

If we'd had iPhones back when I was little, we'd have run out of memory. There would have been pictures of my knee after cutting it on a sickle and getting it sewed up in Hyannis, Nebraska, by Dr. Howell, I believe. My sister, Whanda, worked there at his office.

We'd have taken a picture of Dad after he got bucked off one of Mick's horses. Dad's one whole side was purple. I'll bet Dad was all of 70 when he got bucked off. We'd have taken pictures of the coyote pups when we found a den.

There would have been pictures of fish we caught or places we visited. Pictures of all the watermelons Dad raised one year. It seemed like there were watermelons everywhere. I dearly love watermelons.

Don't get me wrong -- there were pictures, but not very many. Cameras were expensive, and getting the film developed also was expensive. So pictures were taken only at special occasions.

There were a few pictures taken, but not many. Some had those cameras where you take the picture and the camera would spit out the developed picture.

Mom and Dad had a kind of box camera that you had to open up. I had a small, square box camera that was about 3x4x5 inches. We took a few pictures, but not many. Man, if we would have had iPhones or such back then, but we didn't.

Pictures from back then reside to a large degree only in our memories. Just this morning, a cousin of mine, Rod McMullen, posted a picture of a fishing pole bending over with a fish on it. It brought back memories of days gone by fishing with Dad or Grandpa at Lake McConaughy.

The sad part is when I'm gone, these memories or mental pictures will be gone, lost forever, unless I take the time to put them down on paper or record them.

I like to write, but I also like to draw, mostly with pencil. I'm learning how to paint, but I'm not very good at it.

The responsibility is mine to pass the memories on to future generations.

How do we start? It's pretty easy. Get yourself a notebook of some kind that you feel comfortable with. I like those with yellow paper that are about 8.5x11 inches. I also carry the small version that is about 5.5x8.5 inches.

When a memory comes along, jot it down. You don't have to flesh it out right then, but put down enough so you can recall the memory and flesh it out later.

I will jot down the reminder for the memory and then flesh it out on the computer.

Set a goal of a memory a week. That would total 52 memories that will be saved in the coming year. Maybe two a week, which would total 104 memories saved. The key is getting started and then continuing.

Happy memories.

Until next time.