When I look back…

While looking for something on my old PC this evening I got caught up in some old emails I had saved. Way back in 2006 a number of us on a Yahoo email list wrote on the topic, “Someday when I look back upon my life…”. This is what I wrote:

When I look back upon my life I want it to be full of memories of rocking children and grandchildren. I want shelves and shelves of filled photo albums that chronicle a full and happy life with people I love. I want to be able to browse through scrapbooks that bring back fond memories of places we have traveled and I especially hope there will be a very treasured one with pictures of Europe. I want several guest books that will bring to mind the many people we have welcomed into our home through the years. 

I hope my many books are well-thumbed and contain hand-written notes expressing some of my thoughts while reading them. I hope I live someplace with enough room for my piano and that I keep it in tune because I still play regularly, if not well.

I hope my kitchen is still a place where family and friends gather to share food and fellowship. Where the pantry always contains the makings of a quick meal for last minute guests and the refrigerator holds something delicious to drink. Of course I have no doubt there will be a tea kettle at the ready and always plenty of Earl Grey.

I hope my desk is stacked with various projects I am working on and that at least one book with my name on the cover has a special place among the handful of books I keep nearby.

I hope David and I have lots of quiet evenings snuggled up on a comfy sofa (with a few pet hairs) by the fire, or sipping a cool drink on a patio, porch or balcony. Evenings in which we reminisce about our courtship when we spent our Friday nights cruising in our ’66 Mustangs. Remembering all the adorable things our kids used to say when they were little. Talking about the amazing places we have traveled and the way those travels have enriched our lives. I hope we have lots of crazy fun times to recall and a few memories that we whisper about.

And then I hope we have to hurry up and get dressed to go somewhere fun because while looking back is nice sometimes, living life is better.