What do you remember?

I was sitting with an elderly friend of mine (I'm privileged to call him friend) the other day and we were discussing various random things as usual and we got on the subject of one of the ballot measures here in California relating to unions.  He asked me if he had ever told me about his first experience with unions.  In the neighborhood where he grew up in was a factory.  One day the union workers decided to strike and picket the shop.  Well some of the workers actually crossed the picket lines to work, and what ensued afterward has determined his attitude towards unions throughout his life.  What I thought was amazing about his story is not what he remembered (he was fairly detailed) but the fact that he was six years old when this occurred!  My friend just turned 90 this past summer.

This leads me to my title "What do you remember?"  What is your earliest recollection?  What kind of impression did it leave.  What actions by others has formed who you are as an adult?  Then take that one step further what kind of impact are you leaving?  What impression are you instilling in your children or their friends and your family.

My memory is full of things my parents said or did, things my grandparents said, places they took me, things we did etc.  Even beyond my family what about my neighbors, teachers, friends, or friends parents.  All of these have become points of impact that have formed who I am and what I think and do.  Will I remember these things when I am 90?  I don't know, sometimes I can't remember what I ate yesterday, but I do know that sometimes I have random memories of things long forgotten things that somewhere along the way made a lasting impact on my life.

We all make an impact, the question is what kind of impact are we making.  Are we making memories that are going to last 84 years?  And if it does last 84 years how is that memory going to be measured?  Is it going to be thought of fondly or negatively?  Or will it be passed along to make an impact in another persons life for another generation. Randomly, my friends did, how about you.