This past weekend, our kids from Phoenix came to visit since they had a holiday on Monday. Jaden, the 11 yr old came with a story he had written for school. That was our dinner entertainment one night, listening to his story, which was absolutely great. The imagination of this young man amazed us all and humor, well, let’s just say that we were all loving the laughter and smiles that the story brought. He wanted to know if he could post it on my blog, when I suggested that he form his own blog. That way, he could put the story or if he decided to make it a series, he would be able to post them whenever he wanted. Thus, http://www.myfictionallife.com was born……He ask me if I would post and share this new blog site and of course, being the cool, great grandmother I am, I am doing just that. Where did the years of Sesame Street and Pippa Pig go and when did Jaden get old enough to be able to write about a time machine which takes him back to Roman days, with gladiators; which is where the time machine took him. As I pondered this question, I thought to myself, “self, where does the time go such as when I didn’t need support bras or pantyhose, or “did I really live during a time when there was no QVC or microwave ovens?”The answer; time just goes. No one exactly how or  when it happens, but it does. The times that we think will be there forever, they go faster and faster. My point today is this…..write down special memories because even though you might think you will remember everything special, with that wonderful memory of yours, that also goes….trust me on this. So take note of special times that come along. Enjoy it when that 3 yr old grandson sleeps between you and lays his feet and legs over your face. Listen, really listen to the stories that your grandchildren  and children make up, (unless they are in their 30’s, then you might seriously think about getting help for them) it is just so incredible to listen to their imagination.  At our age, our imagination only involves thinking about a whole night sleeping without having to get up to go to the bathroom, or trying to imagine what I use to look like before I had to use 3 layers of makeup to cover up lines. On crazy days, I do imagine winning the grand prize on Wheel of Fortune, but that is only when I feel really bold and “out there”.

So if you are so inclined to “go wild” and show those grandkids they are not the only ones with an imagination, write a story about something crazy you did when you were their age, or get out pictures of the “younger years” and share memories with them. They might just surprise you and ask a question or two before running off to the computer or TV, well…..at least you can “imagine” them being interested……

Use one night a month for you and your spouse to sit and write down some dreams and talk about things that you both enjoyed before you had to be home to catch the 6:00 news. Randy and I make a special night each January to have special snacks and make a bucket list of things that we want to do in the new year. We do NOT, not EVER, list “get more exercise” or “eat healthier” as those don’t sound like fun, so we don’t list them, plus we know that the next year, we would not be able to check them off our list. So we plan day trips, or vacation places, or name something that we would like to begin. We are taking our Omega 3’s religiously so we will be able to remember the fun plans that we have made, but just in case we do forget, we have written them down….we don’t want our imaginations to get bored this year. We are determined to let 2013 be a year of at least completing half of our yearly bucket list. If we don’t make that goal, we will just change the yearly list to say 2014 and start over. After all, at our age, we will probably forget what or where our imaginations took us.