Memory Lane

In my mind when trying to recall an incident I typically tie events to other events. For example, remembering how old Patrick was when he was out of a crib. That is tied to our move from one house to another. Steve and I moved from the house on Lowell Avenue to the house on Altura Avenue when Patrick was 2 years old. The new house was when and where we moved him into a “big boy” bed.

When did I teach Sunday school? Well, it was the year we got married – 1981.

In the last 10 years, since I started the Crescenta Valley Weekly, many events are recalled in relation to “BN” or “AN” (before newspaper or after newspaper). Mary O’Keefe and I often recall occasions in our lives in relation to news events that we were covering. I attended the Glendale Educational Foundation’s “Dancing with Diamonds” event at the Glendale Hilton the same weekend as the flood of 2010.

What I recently realized, though, is that whereas previously I would reference occasions in my own life as benchmarks to remembering things, now it’s the occasions in my children’s lives that are the benchmarks to spark my memory. When did we take that family trip to San Diego? It was after Patrick got his driver’s license. When did we get the dog? When Matthew was in Greece.

When did the path change that is Memory Lane? When did the landmarks that I was familiar with become somebody else’s events?

This Friday will see the creation of a new benchmark in our lives. Our son Danny is getting married on Friday afternoon. I’m sure that like the accomplishments – and yes, sometimes trials – of our other children, the wedding will be a reference point for our memory. I’m sure it won’t be long before a question is answered with, “Oh, that was before Danny got married.”

Congratulations to my “baby boy,” the one who used to climb onto my lap after dinner to listen to dad and me talk, who was in charge of unloading the dishwasher and setting the dinner table, who was always around to lend a hand and who made the commitment to serve our country in the Air Force.

I’m so excited to see where this journey – with your beloved partner – takes you. And I’m so glad that I get to be a passenger on this trip.

  robin goldsworthy