When Yesterday's Memories Meet Tomorrow's Dreams...

I woke up this morning thinking about Thanksgivings past. I remember some things very well, and others, not at all. I do remember that it became less than fun when I was a young mommy. Hauling babies from one parent's house and then to the other's. It was a lot of work.

From that work, came the determination to have Thanksgiving dinner at home. My home. I announced my intentions at the dinner table, at my mother's house, as we ate dry turkey and baked tacos. No potatoes: “they're fattening.” No vegetables: “you know I don't like vegetables!” No rolls, no pumpkin pie, no gravy. Just dry turkey and baked tacos.

Born of that experience are all the memories of later Thanksgivings. The meal, the preparations, the decorations. And yes, the exhaustion afterwards. But I was happy: my work erased the earlier memories. The meal was a gift to my family; a “thank you” for being in my life.

And it still is. Old memories merge with newer ones. Expectations are reachable. And dreams flourish.

At what point do old memories paralyze us and alter our dreams? Do they? Do memories serve to guide us? Is it a means of correcting past mistakes? Or creating future memories?

Nothing can change what has happened in the past. Remembering it, to some degree, is helpful. But today is a new day and tomorrow is a new Thanksgiving celebration. It will be what we choose to make it; nothing more, nothing less.