Where the Past Meets the Present
By Terri Tiffany
I study my favorite authors’ works.
I’m one of those people who underline in the books I own, trying to find a pattern in the style to how the book comes together.
I’ve been doing that this week. And I’ve found something.
Much of what I admire in my writers is their depth of layers and where they take their characters.
Deep into their head.
Memories filled with details that mingle with their thoughts and actions in the present.
Today I read where the character collected Bazooka bubblegum wrappers to order glasses that she would let her see through people and items. Fast forward, she remembered this childhood detail when she wished for that same ability in her current relationship.
Yeah, I love those snippets because they shoot me back into my own memories. Like the time I found a fifty cent piece frozen in a snow bank in my neighbor’s front yard. I saved that coin in my glass bear bank, pulling it out and feeling the cool metal in my hand.
For me, the coin was a gift, a promise that God would provide.
Our childhood memories and beliefs often stick with us, shaping us into who we are today.
I haven’t found any fifty cent pieces lately in any snow banks but I have been blessed in many other ways.
What memories still play a huge part in your life today?
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Terri Tiffany counseled adults, owned a Christian bookstore and now resides in Texas with her husband. Her work has appeared in magazines, Sunday school take-home papers, and anthologies such as Chicken Soup for the Soul, Blue Mountain Arts. Please visit her at http://terri-treasures.blogspot.com/.
7 Comments until now.
Great post Terri! Great to see you here!
Fantastic post!
Very helpful article, Terri. It’s for the reasons you mentioned that it’s so important to have children memorize Scripture. As a child and unsaved, my mother had read about Jesus leaving the 99 lambs and seeking the one lost sheep (Mt. 18:12-14) and she taught me that Jesus would, “…never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you” (Heb.13:5b). I also learned the next verse, “The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid. What shall man do to me?” I later recalled both of these references when I was in survival training in the Navy and standing guard in a lonely guard tower in Vietnam. I always recalled and still do, that I’m never alone while being indwelt by His Spirit. Thank you for the reminder.
One of my favorite early memories is from the first grade. I remember the night my father first pointed out the big dipper. I came in the house and drew a careful picture of seven stars for show and tell the next day. I’m still in love with the night time sky.
As a very young boy, I was looking out my bedroom window. The sun was in full shine. Along the inside sill I saw a fly stumbling, then so quickly die. My first experience with death. I was shaken with sadness. Tears tumbled. I scooped him up and put him in my little porcelain doggy, hoping it would be a haven for revival. Passing days hardened my heart gripping the reality of the tiny tot.
Today, I am not sure what interpretation I have for the impact of that event; but, when I see any life struggling, my thoughts of that first life lost are probably in there somewhere.
Thank you, Terri, for your own take back.
I remember those xray glasses. Did they really work?
My older brother helped me read using comic strips. They’re still the first thing I turn to in a newspaper. Bedtime stories still soothe me to sleep (even if it’s only one paragraph)and if my husband is reading to me, that’s even better.