Memories Make Me Happy! A Guest Post by Laura Hughes

When I think of my friends and loved ones I remember stories. I take a lot of pictures throughout the year, pictures of events and places I want to remember. Every time I look at my pictures, I remember stories surrounding the event. Memories make me happy!

Valentine's Day is the perfect time for memories and sharing stories!

I have begun chronicling my memories surrounding my favorite pictures. At first, writing my memories seemed awkward, but over time it has gotten much easier. And I've learned that a heartfelt memory is the very best gift I can give. A tangible reminder to be cherished in days, weeks, and years to come. A written memory to leave to future generations that the people in my life were special, were loved.

My challenge to you this year: A hand-written memory of a special time. This task may seem daunting. “I'm not a writer. I'm not a good speller. I don't know where to begin. This is stupid.”

Start slow. Get a piece of paper, a pen or pencil, a small timer. Set the timer for 2 minutes. At the top of your paper write I REMEMBER... start the timer and write a list of memories. Write the entire time... write just enough to recall the memory then move on to the next memory. When the buzzer sounds, stop.

For example: I REMEMBER our first kayak trip down the Muskegon River... meeting you at the ball park... “Here, let me help you”... cooking my first ham... meeting your brothers at your family reunion... honking the horn in the driveway... our first big garden... Sport and RV shows... road trip in Florida... driving into the Grand Canyon a little too far... proposal... wedding ceremony... last-minute Mackinac Island biking... hot dogs over brush pile... fishing in little row boat... (each time you do this activity you will generate a different list!)

Pick one of your listed memories and start telling the story. Don't worry if it's not a literary masterpiece. It will  be to your loved one. The story will show how much your loved one means to you. You remembered. If you  have a picture of the memory all the better. If not, no worries. Your sentiment is enough.

This activity can become a family tradition. Everyone can participate. Group memories are special, too. We have started making a giant card for those holidays when family members gather. For example, at Christmas, we make a blank card, put a title on it (What I remember about Christmas... Remember the 4th of July we... My favorite Thanksgiving dessert is... etc.) pass it around during the day and everybody signs it and adds their memory. The following year, we do the same thing with a different title and we have all prior cards displayed throughout the house. We all look forward to re-living memories past.

Write from your heart; it's Valentine's Day, after all!

Laura Hughes is co-founder of Freeze Frame Publishing, printers and finishers of custom photo books, cards, and calendars that YOU create using your digital pictures and Freeze Frame  Publishing's FREE software. She chronicles her family's history through pictures and stories. Contact Laura@FreezeFramePublishing.com for more information on freezing time and framing your memories forever!

(This is a photo book with “stories” from guests at this couple's wedding... they handed out I REMEMBER... note cards to all their guests. Guest stories are sprinkled throughout the book)


Web site: http://freezeframepublishing.com
email: laura@freezeframepublishing.com
company: Freeze Frame Publishing
Lowell, MI 49331
freeze time... frame your memories forever!

A Short History of Valentine’s Day

Every year on February 14^th, people all over the western world celebrate the day of St. Valentine. Generally, Valentine’s Day is know as a day to celebrate love and romance, where lovers give gifts and cards to each other. However the origins of this holiday are quite murky. 

Which Valentine?

In 496 AD, Pope Gelasius declared that the previous pagan holiday of Lupercalia (a celebration of fertility) be henceforth known as the day of St. Valentine. However, up to this point, there had been three St. Valentines in the history of the church. Today, there is almost nothing historically verifiable about any of the three Valentines except that one was a Bishop in Rome and one was killed in Africa at some point, and all of them are said to have been martyred on February 14^th. 

The Myth

Although almost nothing is known about these three saints, most scholars believe that St. Valentine, the bishop of Rome sometime around 270 AD, is probably the one referred to by Pope Gelasius. Perhaps it was because Gelasius named a holiday for him that a myth was created for St. Valentine, whose origins are untraceable and are most likely apocryphal. 

According to the legend, Roman Emperor Claudius II placed a ban on marriage because he needed more soldiers for his army and he thought single men made better soldiers. Valentine disagreed with the Emperor and decided to perform marriages in secret. Of course, the Emperor found out and put Valentine in jail. According to legend, while in prison, Valentine befriended the jailer’s blind daughter and healed her blindness. When Valentine refused to worship the roman Gods, and tried to convert Claudius to Christianity, he was put to death.

In some versions of the story, Valentine was said to have fallen in love with the jailer’s daughter, whom he had healed, and just before his execution sent her a love letter, signed “From your Valentine.”

The Holiday

Although the Catholic Church tried for centuries to quash the romantic tones of the holiday, they did not succeed, and the tradition grew stronger through the middle ages. But I guess that’s what you get when you try and change a fertility celebration into a solemn day of remembrance.

By the 1700s, Valentine’s Day was a generally accepted holiday when young lovers would give cards to each other, illustrated with hearts and cupids, and decorated with lace. But it was not until the 1840s, when Valentine’s Day card manufacturing became successful, that the holiday really took off and became the holiday we know it as today.

Diane Johnson writes about a number of her interests including four wheeling, online courses, shopping, and celebrating holidays.

Image: Simon Howden / FreeDigitalPhotos.net