This evening I opened a small bottle of maraschino cherries. The human mind is an amazing treasure house of memories triggered by sights, sounds and smells. Suddenly I was overwhelmed with a memory I have not experienced in decades. When I was a small boy with brand new front teeth I got hit in the mouth with a baseball bat. Good-by new teeth. Dentistry was pretty limited then and our dentist was an old man who must have gone to school in WWI. Visits to him were most unpleasant. One warm sunny afternoon as my mother and I came out of his office she took me to a corner drug store. Sitting up at the ice cream counter she whispered something to the lady with a scoop in her hand. The next thing I saw was totally awesome. There in front of my bulging brown eyes was a giant mound of vanilla ice cream smothered with twenty-seven whole maraschino cherries. I never again had such a sundae.
Our memories are who we are. Our memories paint a life. While we are able to remember both good and bad, it is our choice on which ones we dwell. The close of the Book of Revelation speaks of former things not coming to mind. Some say this means we will not remember things of this life. I do so hope they are very wrong. If so, we will cease to be us. I am sure the passage means we will be so occupied with positive things we won’t have time for negative memories. I don’t ever want to forget my cherry sundae. It speaks to me of my mother’s love.
Written by Roger Bothwell on October 10, 2009
Spring of Life Ministry, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574
rogerbothwell.org