I recently enjoyed a big buttered
sweet roll with coffee at the Frontier Restaurant in Albuquerque, while Cyndi and Tanya attended
an early yoga class. When I was in high school we came to the University of New Mexico
for All State Music, and it was part of the ritual to eat breakfast at the
Frontier. I hadn’t been there since 1974, and I wouldn’t have thought of going
there this time except Cyndi reminded me. I came to renew a memory and reset an
experience. The sweet role and coffee were good but the renewal was better.
Have you done something like that
recently? Have you returned to an old haunt or repeated a previous experience
simply to reinforce your memory?
The first time I remember doing
something like that intentionally was going to Mesquite’s
BBQ in Lubbock
in a blinding rainstorm one afternoon in 1994. I was on my way back to Midland from a business trip to Vernon, Texas.
The memory I was after happened when
Cyndi and I were first married and she was still attending Texas Tech in Lubbock we met at Mesquite’s
for lunch one blustery winter day. It was one of our best dates ever. Cyndi was
especially attractive in her soft sweater and I was so hot for her I couldn’t
sit still. I go back to Mesquite’s
every chance I get to relive that moment.
Last week I went to Dallas with Cyndi. She was
attending a church media conference called Echo at Watermark Community Church,
and I did what I usually do – take a backpack full of books and my journal, and
go underground for a couple of days. I also ran one lap around White Rock Lake
Thursday morning and it was great.
Well, in fact it got hot and humid
and it was really brutal and I got dehydrated and I was lucky to make it all
the way around. But besides that, it was great. White Rock Lake is one of our favorite places to
run and I am disappointed if we are in
the area and don’t have time to make it.
Unfortunately I was too worn out
after running to go to our favorite La Madeleine Restaurant afterward and reconnect
another great memory. It’s mostly a cold weather memory anyway.
One winter Saturday Cyndi and I ran
the Lake and then warmed up over coffee and tea and buttered bread with jelly
near the big fireplace at La Madeleine at Preston and Forest.
This time, it would’ve been hard to imagine Cyndi’s silhouette against the
fireplace after a 90*F run, so I didn’t go. But running the Lake
was great; more about renewal than fitness, and I was glad for the opportunity.
And this past weekend I took my
7-year-old nephew, Kevin, on a
two-night camping trip at the Ft.
Davis State
Park. We joined Corey and his son Carter. I had
two objectives for the weekend: (1) do manly stuff with Kevin,
like sleeping in a tent when there are bugs inside, eating hot dogs when they have
dirt and ashes on them, hiking without complaining, using the bushes, and
playing in the fire; and (2) repeat some of the experiences I enjoyed with my
dad when we used to go to Ft. Davis, like touring the fort and climbing the
rocks alongside the highway. We did all of those and Kevin
had a good time. He came home with cuts and scrapes to show off to all the
other men and to draw sympathy from the women. It was a successful weekend with
Kevin, but it was also great for
renewing my memories.
I’m not sure why I am telling these
stories about memory renewal; it isn’t a nostalgia grab, or merely reliving the
good old days. I think this is connected to one of my favorite verses that I
recently rediscovered in my Daily Bible, Jeremiah 6:16, “Stand at the crossroads
and look; and ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in
it.”
Refreshing old memories has less to
do with sentiment and more to do with asking the questions again – which is the
good way? How can I walk in it?
P.S. Much to my surprise, the White
Rock run did me some good. My legs and knees had been stiff and sore the entire
month of July, but after 9 miles around White Rock Lake, they felt much better. Who
would’ve expected that? Memories aren’t the only things that can be renewed. It
works for knees, too.
“I run in the path of Your
commands, for You have set my heart free.” Psalm 119:32
To learn more about Berry’s newest book, “Running
With God:” www.runningwithgodonline.com
Follow Berry on Twitter at @berrysimpson … Contact
Berry directly: berry@stonefoot.org
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