Jimbo's Jots

Comedian Bob Hope always finished his shows with a song, Thanks for the Memories. It was a song written to a lost loved one. It first appeared in 1938 in one of his movies and won the Academy Award for best original song that year. Hope popularized it as a part of USO tours during World War 2 with soldiers and families unsure of the return of their husbands and wives.

Memories are tricky things. They invite us to replay the movie of a past occasion. Sometimes the show has a happy ending. We reflect and smile. Other times, we are saddened to remember the brokenness we felt as we play the rerun of some hurt. Two events will take place in the next week that have invited me to stroll down the memory lane.

The first of which is the college graduation of my youngest daughter. She will graduate from the same college that I graduated from years ago. As I start to play the movie of graduation, I remember the four years of study and classes that I took for my degree. I am reminded of the instructors and professors that taught more than just the subject of the class but also how to be good followers of God in our studies. I think about sitting outside, in rickety plastic chairs praying that my chair didn’t collapse at some point. There were the friends that I graduated with who continue to flow in and out of my life every day. Thanks for the memories!

The second event is a wedding. This is not just any wedding. The bride and groom are children from friends that I have known and shared life that started in college. As I prepare to officiate this particular wedding, I am taken back to sitting in the living rooms of these families. Sharing life through song as I have sung and/or played music with the two sets of parents either in a choral group or small ensemble. We’ve eaten together, travelled together, blessed each other’s marriages. Thanks for the memories!

The presence of people in our lives is, I believe, intentional. God gives us opportunities to share life together when the moments are celebratory and when the moments are sad. As these movies of memories play, we can see the hand of God at work, thank Him for the memories we are able to share with each other, and know that we are who we are today because of them.

Be blessed! Be a blessing to others as you create memories!