Always Remember and Never Forget

Pulling on my jacket I opened the door of my cabin to walk in the solitude of the forest.  Feeling a cold breeze whispering in my ears, I pulled my jacket tighter around my torso to ward of the forthcoming drop n temperature.  Basking in the solitude of natures embrace, I decided to gather logs in order to light and enjoy the warming embrace of small fire.  Satisfied was I at the feeling of warmth from the fire and the embrace of nature, I drifted in deep thought while peering into the fire.  My mind drifted back to childhood  and of the times I spent with my grandfather.  Suddenly a wind, warmed by the fire, blew past my ears and  I heard voice. My grand-fathers voice! 

    Suddenly I was a child again: Sitting on my grand-fathers lap while he read the newspaper out loud to me.  As was his custom, he would end the reading by saying: “Always remember and never forget, grandson.”  He would then provide me with a lesson on life, a tale which prepare me for the road ahead.  More than often I never understood what he was telling me and when asked, he would simply state: “The day will come when the words I impart to you now, in your youth, will become knowledge in adulthood.”  “Always remember and never forget.”  These words have become my mantra, my living memorial to my grandfather, since deceased.

    Slowly I drifted out of my self imposed state of meditation and continued to linger on his words as I stared intensely into the fire as if an answer would jump out at me from the sparks flying about.  I thought back to what why I was in self imposed isolation from those who are near and dear to me…Why had I walked away from a successful, though not fulfilling life.  Again I heard my grandfather’s words as another spark jumped put from the flames: “Always remember and never forget.”  Suddenly it dawned on me!  The answer was there within me all the time!  I was never happy living someone else’s vision of a life…I was miserable.  I knew that!  But I chose a path of least resistance instead of choosing path my own.  I now knew the answer to what I was to always remember and to never forget. The answer was in the fire!  The answer was: “To follow the passion burning deep within me, to be true to myself…To pursue and live my passion! That is what grandfather taught me to: “Always remember and never forget!” © 1997    L.Warren Bullard