A Weekend for Memories

Twenty-two years ago tomorrow I embarked on a most courageous journey in tandem with the love of my life. It has been a wonderful adventure every step of the way.

This weekend happens to be Memorial Day weekend in the USA. For some it is a time of reflecting on those who have died. For others it is the launch of the season of summer fun. There will be parades and picnics and visits to cemetery plots and hikes in the woods and camping trips and visits to the shore and, where it is warm, fun in the sun and water. A weekend, hopefully, spent with family and/or friends.

My mind goes back to that Memorial Day weekend over two decades ago, the one where I said “I do” till death do us part. It’s a good thing I couldn’t peer into the future, as much as I would have been tempted to do so had there been that option. Best to take life’s pleasures and pains one day at a time. I remember so clearly looking out across the campus in Kirkland, Washington, where we were married. Kim and I were following the photographer’s orders to stand here or there, all for the cause of making memories.

It was a clear blue sky day, “glorious” Kim called it and for more than mere weather reasons. The rhododendrons were at their peak and in the distant west, across the Puget Sound, the peaks of the Olympic Mountains shown white in the brilliant sunshine. My mind wasn’t looking very far out at all. Just taking it one step at a time. It’s all mapped out, this day, and good thing, too, for, unlike the weather, my mind was shrouded in fog. Not a fog of fear or doubt or anguish, just all fogged up from anticipation and joy and excitement. A day to savor the intoxicating mist of love.

For this old trail walker, that day was a trailhead to be remembered and cherished long after. Thanks for the journey, Kim, and for the many more miles ahead.