The Magnificent Memory Biscuit

Today Dad, My Husband and The Kids Cut, Split and Hauled Home This Load of Wood.

Mom and I Played This Game of Scrabble Outside at The Picnic Table while Moonbeam Slept. (I stomped her!!!)

Dad Picked Out These Giant Slabs of Bacon!! Mmmm.....

Every Day We Go Out For A Hike Together. Today Mom Did 4 Miles!!

There Is Also A lot Card Playing Going On!! Mom And Kaleb Give A High Five As They Win A Game!!


This evening, after dinner, I heard the river calling my name. As I kayaked, fresh crisp air and the stunning autumn beauty enveloped me. I couldn't help thinking about the conversation we'd had at dinner and I decided it was worthy of ink.
It was a special dinner. Mom and Dad had taken us grocery shopping yesterday and we'd ended up with a cart full of things the children were thrilled about. These bounties included 4 tubs of ice cream with toppings, 4 bags of assorted chips, bacon as as thick as your ear and giant fresh salmon slabs.

Buying fresh salmon is a rare luxury, and a favorite of all. Watchfully, I broiled it along with preparing lundberg rice, steamed green beans, and rolling out baking powder biscuits.
As we sat down, savoring the meal, my mom deeply inhaled with a smile. "Oh baking powder biscuits" she sighed, and suddenly she was far away. More than 50 years ago, as a little girl, my mother went camping at White Pines State Park along with her brothers and sisters. My mom was the youngest of 9 children. Her mother, being a poor but proud woman, went to the lodge. It was the only establishment around and she needed something to feed her brood. She told the manager that she didn't have enough money to take her children there to eat at the restaurant, but would like to buy something to feed them. Some 50 years ago, though the people very well may be dead and gone, a random act of kindness is still remembered as if were yesterday. My grandmother returned to her children with a coffee can of baking powder biscuits frosted in orange juice icing. That special breakfast triggered a memory that lived on in the mind of my mother and probably her brothers and sisters as well.
It got me to thinking of how important it is for me to make a difference to others today. In this whirlwind of days we live in, time flies away so fast that you will barely blink and what you're reading right now will be nothing but a memory. Fifty years from now, five years from now how will you be remembered? Did you encourage people? Did you make a difference in the life of a child? Have you comforted the sick or eased the financial struggles of a stranger? Will somebody remember that you went out of your way to help them?

My kids remember the best waitresses they've had even from years ago. They also remember people and workers who have been rude. One of our favorite family games is called "Apples to Apples". We make our own cards for the game and play it whenever we visit my side of the family. In the cards are a lot of old family jokes. Some one lays down an adjective card and everybody throws down a card that they think best describes it. People who have tried to cheat or insult or otherwise offend any of us over the years have earned their names in there and every year we have laugh at their expense all over again. Of course our own names are in there, as are characters in our favorite (or cheesiest) movies, silly nouns, etc.. On and on we play. On and on we laugh at the choices of cards played.
I guess my point is is that we should try to do things worthy of being remembered. Sometimes going out of your way in the time it takes to roll out a few baking powder biscuits will make a memory in somebody for life. Live wisely and purposefully. Live well and free or die with regret and make a difference with a random act of kindness.