Some of the things we carry with us throughout our lives are childhood memories.  And these memories can be wonderful, funny, tragic, embarrassing, and so many other things.  But one thing stands out in common with all of them.  There is a specific, unique feeling attached to each one.  Now the feelings can range in importance, from silly to serious.  These memories can be so significant as to become an emotional trigger caused by a traumatic event.  Or, they can simply be a stray thought that crosses one’s mind and causes one to think of something that happened a long time ago.  

For me, most of my memories are of a happy childhood and a wonderful family.  However, I have a memory of an adult relative that was very important to me, offhandedly saying, “You just can’t trust anybody anymore.”  Now she didn’t really mean that literally.  She was just expressing frustration over something that had happened.  But I remember thinking that I should be wary of everyone.  “Who could I trust?”  I never spoke to my parents about it, but it scared me.  I guess that’s why I still remember it.  It’s so important to realize that children often overhear the conversations of adults.  Adults need to be aware of what they say around children.

There are so many kinds of memories that we carry throughout childhood into our adult life.  My own memories are full of the adventures I had with my friends.  These can bring a smile to my face everytime I recall one.

But it’s the traumatic ones that sometimes can follow a person through their adult life.  These memories can plague one’s entire life if they are not resolved.  Through counseling, and /or support groups, help can be provided by competent professionals.

The memories we have as children can teach us valuable lessons.  They can elicit joy or sorrow in an instant.  As adults, we can be the reason a child has good memories.  In that way, a person can provide a healthy, optimistic outlook and make a valuable contribution to the life of a child.  And even if it fails to make a wonderful memory, it is still a very worthy pursuit in our complicated society.  Children are the future, and adults, if they do their part, by making good memories with them can enrich the lives of us all.