Will This Really Matter in Ten Years?

A simple quest sent me on a short journey the other day. I was seeking an answer I thought I had written down in a letter to Mom. Ten years ago.

Thus my journey began.

In sifting through a few letters during the time frame I was interested in, I found a paragraph I had written that intrigued me.

My youngest son was just starting the fifth grade. He wanted out of the class he was in and was desperate to escape by any means possible. There were no other grade five classes in his school so he begged me to let him either change schools or home school him. My request of him? "Just give it some time".

Ten years later, this incident rang the faintest of bells within my memory. It was akin to looking at a photograph and wondering "Do I remember that incident or do I just remember the picture?" In this case, I wondered, "Do I really remember this or do I only think I do because I am reading my own hand writing?"

Intrigued by this little blast from the past, I asked my son if he remembered this devastating, life altering, all encompassing incident from his past.

He looked at me vacantly. "When was this?" "How old was I?" "What teacher was it?" He couldn't remember.

I thought to myself. "This is a very good lesson for us to remember..."

No matter how devastating a moment may feel at the time, will you remember this in ten years?

I am fortunate enough to have many "ten years ago" incidents within my memory bank. I can remember the big stuff. Ten years later, all that is left is the lessons. The emotion I felt at the time is a distant memory.

Keep the lessons in life. Feel what you need to feel, do what you need to do, react as you need to react to get through and past the moment. Keep the lesson. Try to let the other stuff go. Try to forget.

Will this really matter in ten years?