Vista Online

Fall/Winter 2001

Memories

1981….Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, Haifa Gate, Church of the Nativity, Jericho Tower, Masada, Capernaum, Acropolis, Colosseum, Capri, Piazza Signoria, Berthold Pass, Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe…..1989….Victoria Falls, Mombasa, Kathmandu, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Great Wall, Ming Tombs, Hong Kong…..Stand over there please. Move just a little to the left….Ah, Eva Marie, please look at Daddy…please don’t keep swinging your arm. Jimmy, no faces this time, please? Okay, now hold on, ready? Jimmy, I’m serious. Why do you insist on spoiling every picture we take? Do you want everyone to remember you with that twisted face? Okay, thank you. Ready, here we go…one, two…..Jimmy, I mean it! We’ll stay here until dark if you want! Thank you! That’s it… 2000….Dad, could we look at slides tonight instead of going out to dinner and a movie? Dad, could you send me those pictures by e-mail? Thanks for the CD with all those pictures on it, Dad! They’re great. Could you please print copies of all those with Joel?

It’s funny how our attitudes toward memories change. For most of us when we’re young, the idea that we might someday want to remember what is happening to us today seems at best, insignificant or unnecessary and at worst, a complete waste of time.

When we are young, we smile tolerantly at the adults who enjoy reminiscing, and roll our eyes less tolerantly when Aunt Rose tells the story of Vinnie the third time in one evening. I don’t know if it’s because we accumulate more memories, or if it’s just that our own internal “hard disks” begin to fail, but it seems that most of us begin to pay more and more attention to safeguarding our memories as the years go by….albums, reunions, anniversaries, phone calls…. start to count for more.

Of course, there are some memories we all want to forget. But as we all begin to see certain precious times against a backdrop of more mundane routines of daily life, we begin to cherish the memories of those times.

As Christians we understand more each passing year, that to live is Christ and to die is gain. But that does not diminish the pleasure that comes from remembering the best times we are given. Our lives are to be “abundant.” To have good memories is to be blessed with opportunity and probably with loving relationships.

For most of us, good memories cannot be separated from the people with whom we share them. Many people never know such things. If history is to be trusted, those who have been part of the Greenville College family have a richer legacy of precious memories than college students almost anywhere. Cherish them, and thank God for them.

V. James Mannoia, Jr.
President of Greenville College

Last updated: July 9, 2001