Keith Welch: The lasting effect of memory?
Memorial Day is 12 days away, but sometimes it is good to get a head start on it. I noticed in last Sunday’s Sentinel that a World War II U.S. Army Air Force Zeeland man was finally laid to rest after he was found almost 80 years later. The B-25 plane performing reconnaissance went down in the mountains of Papua, New Guinea.
I remember my great-grandfather telling us about his son, Clarence who was killed by enemy fire while storming the beach of Sicily during WWII.
I serve in the USAF in Intelligence (71-75). I was never really in harm's way, but we monitored some of the difficult conflicts around the world. My unit on Okinawa was a reconnaissance unit with planes called the RC-135 "hog-nose” and the SR-71.
“To give a thought-to take a thought-is a function of dissociation. You can’t exercise memory until you’ve removed yourself from the memory source.” — Joyce Carol Oates, "We Were the Mulvaneys"
I have many good memories of the past while growing up as a kid in different places. Traverse City, Ludington and Mishawaka. I can remember all the troubled times and the good memories of those days.
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My dad used to say, “I’ve got a good memory. … It’s just short.” I still remember many of my dad’s sayings. When we got in the car he would say, “We’re off like a dirty shirt.” When he was driving and a bird flew over the car he would say, “I almost got a birdie and I wasn’t even golfing.”
There are pills you can buy which are supposed to improve your memory. I have some which I try to remember to take every day. Do they work? I can’t remember!
I sometimes forget the names of people I have met. I do have a banner hanging in my den which reads: “True friends are never forgotten. They live in your heart.”
I still remember a sermon by Salvation Army Commissioner Israel Gaither at a central U.S. Men’s conference in 2014. He was speaking about Nathan pointing out to King David about his sin. Then Commissioner Gaither asked the question, “Are there any Nathan’s in the house?”
There are probably some things I would like to forget, yet these are the things which usually stick in our memory. My older children have a way of making fun of some of my goofy exploits and playing them over and over to me so it is sometimes difficult to forget.
I remember meeting the Navigator Ministry while I was stationed at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa. They taught me how to memorize scripture to remember important Scriptural truths.
One of my favorite verses is found in Lamentations chapter three. “Surely my soul remembers and is bowed down within me. This, I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope. The Lord's loving kindness indeed never cease, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness.” (Lamentations 3:20-23)
God, through Jesus, will not remember our sin when we ask him into our lives. I remember a couple of choruses I sometimes sing: “When I remember that he died for me I'll never go back anymore” and “No, more! No, more! He remembers sin no more. They are pardoned forever, and he will never bring them up against me anymore.”
People in scripture sometimes forgot God’s goodness and turned away from following him. Sadly, it still occurs today.
There are important things to remember and other things we should forget. I have many good memories of the past and yet there are some things I would like to forget.
Red Skelton once said, “I don’t let old age bother me. There are three signs of old age: Loss of memory and … I forget the other two.”
Memorial Day is a time when we remember the sacrifices of many who died in battle so we could enjoy the freedom we have today. We should not take their sacrifice for granted and we should remember to honor them on Memorial Day and hopefully every other day.
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How about you? What are the memories you hold dear? My sister gave me a little item almost 50 years ago which still sits in my den. It reads: “No day is over if it makes a memory.”
Hold on to the memories of your life. Memories, good and bad, make you who you are. Celebrate your memories while you still have a memory. Oh, and have a happy Memorial Day in a week and a half.
— Keith J. Welch is a resident of Holland. He has an MFA in creative writing and is a retired Salvation Army Major. Contact him at Keith.welch16@gmail.com.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Keith Welch: The lasting effect of memory?
