Groundhog Day

Hello Beautiful People! “We do not remember days, we remember moments.” ~Unknown

Did you hear that the Kentucky Groundhog passed away? He saw his shadow and then passed. Actually, he didn’t see his shadow this year, so early spring. But how sad for him. Do you remember the movie Groundhog Day with Bill Murray? He had to relive the same day over and over again. Then one day, he was finally out of the loop. In the mean time he did they same thing over and over trying to figure out what would get him out of it. Then he found some moments that he liked and relived them. I’ve thought about that movie and others like it. The Map of Tiny Perfect Things was a good one. In that movie there is a boy and a girl who find out they aren’t the only ones going through the day over and over, and they go through it together. They thought if they could find all the good things in the day, they would get out of the loop. Spoiler alert, it wasn’t until the girl was actually ready to say goodbye to her dying mom that they could move on.

I have asked people if you could relive a day over what would it be? I’ve gotten so many different answers, but most of the time it actually comes down to moments that people would want to relive over and over. One of my husband’s favorite moments is when we were in Hawaii. It was after dinner and we sat at our table that had an amazing view, we were listening to the band sing Somewhere Over the Rainbow, looking out at the water watching the sunset. Matt said he felt so much peace at that moment. He lived in Hawaii growing up so he always feels at home when we are there. I too am an island girl and always feel at home near the ocean. I think most of us, when we think about reliving something, it’s wanting to capture a feeling. I know for me there are so many memories I wish I could hold on to because of those feelings I had in that moment. I love thinking about them because they will put a smile on my face, but I have never been one to want to relive something over again, because I am always waiting for the next moment. I love thinking about that moment Matt and I first kissed and how electric it felt. One of my favorite stories I’ll share another day. But there are so many amazing memories in life, like holding my children or grandchildren for the first time. Staying up all night with my best friends at sleep overs and laughing till we can’t breath. The smile on my high school boyfriend’s face when I told his grandmother I was his girlfriend. Up to that moment we had only been friends. It still makes me laugh to this day. I think about the nights Michelle and I had in DC, eating 7-11 hot dogs at the feet of the Abraham Lincoln Memorial, or riding the carousel over and over. Her and I walking through the museums, sometimes laughing about everything we saw, to sitting in silence as we looked at a Monet painting wondering how they could make us both feel something different. We both always wondered why all of O’Keefe’s pictures looked like vaginas. But I think those memories, even though they were great, all come down to a feeling. The feeling of love, friendship, joy, peace, true happiness, something that can’t be captured, but only felt.

I love pictures. My bestie Bean is an amazing photographer and is always taking pictures. She told me once, “take lots of pictures, because one day that may be all you have left.” She is right. I wish I would have taken more pictures or didn’t throw them away because of a heartache, because there was a memory attached to them. If you have read my blogs for a while you know my grandma had Alzheimer’s and her memory went, but we would look at pictures with her and see if something would trigger a memory. The funny thing is, a smell or a sound would sometimes bring her memory around. When she would talk I could hear her reliving that moment with feeling. Just like when you tell someone a story that made you laugh, they may never understand it like you did because they don’t have the same feeling you do. It’s one of those ‘you had to be there’ things, but they can see how it made you feel. Though we can’t ever go back and recapture those moments in time, we can remember the way that moment made you feel. Matt and I go to Hawaii often, and though we never had that same exact experience again that he recalls as one of his best days, we still make amazing memories there. We still feel peace and happiness there. Though I love remembering the past and sometimes can still conjure up those feelings when I think of that moment, I would never want to relive that moment over and over again. I personally am always looking forward to making new memories. Going some place new or reading a new book is so magical to me. Why would you want to relive one day over and over when there are so many beautiful days ahead. I hope that you can always find those beautiful feelings and memories that make you smile and in every day you can Find The Good In Your Life.