Remembering A Happy Time

Some Sunday mornings I go to the Y and take a water aerobics class. This past Sunday was a particularly hot, humid day, so I figured it was a perfect time to go to the pool. Too bad they had the water temperature at 88 degrees! Anyway, I arrived early and watched the last 15 minutes of the Water Yoga class. This class has grown in popularity over the past several years I have known of it, from an early group of only 5-6 participants, to about 30 yogis and yoginis last week. The teacher was ending the class with a meditation, where she had everyone try to go back to a happy childhood memory. They shared their memories with the group, and I enjoyed listening, and of course thinking of my own happy childhood memories. The water yoga group remembered things like picking blueberries at grandma's farm, having a family cook out, not having any homework in the summer, and going to the Coney Island in New York. I started thinking, and a few special happy moments came to mind. My first happy memory, and something that I still think of frequently, is eating green apples under a grove of apple trees in the afternoon at Camp Trinity. I attended this camp for three years, ages 10-12, and I have many fond memories (like riding in the local rodeo), but the afternoons, around 4pm, was the time I loved the most. I would sit and eat green apples, and talk, and that made me very happy. Another happy childhood memory is visiting my Grandparents farm in upstate New York. I must have been about 8 years old and we went for a summer visit. Grandma's farm had a big mud hole, and I remember clearly diving into mucky goo and loving it. I can still remember that feeling of complete freedom from jumping around in a mud hole. My third happy childhood moment involves summers at the beach. We were lucky enough to belong to a beach club, and we spent most summer days swimming, sunning and playing volleyball. I remember this time as being carefree, where my greatest worry was whether the waves would be good for body surfing or not, or whether my partner and I would win our volleyball match. Happy childhood memories last a lifetime. Many elderly people go back in time, to a happier time. It's great that we have those memories, but I try to think of each day as a new day to make a new happy memory. I recently spent a few hours at the beach, boogie boarding, then having a picnic lunch with friends. I didn't know it would become a happy memory at the time, but it has. I think of that day often, and smile. We've all got many happy memories yet to be created.