Some part of today will be somebody’s most memorable moment. That’s the great thing about every day, no matter what day it is! Every moment of every day has the potential to be one that will be never forgotten. The great thing about memorable moments is they can be anything – a sight, a sound, an experience, another’s embrace, words, or actions. It may be something better than good. It may also be something you may rather not remember but just can’t not remember. It may be something as significant as a seemingly life changing event or as insignificant as an otherwise ordinary meal. Recently at a small gathering, Michael was asked, “what was your most memorable meal?” This is how he answered.
In the course of a lifetime, even the lifetime of one who has not yet lived much, there are many opportunities for memorable meals. These may include the first meal shared with a new spouse or partner in a new house or apartment marking the first steps of a new life together. It may be the last meal spent with a family member or friend that at the time neither could fathom being the last time together yet fate would intervene before another meal could be shared. It may be the one being shared at the the time the two sharing it decide they want to spend forever sharing themselves over many new meals to come.
Memorable meals like any memorable moment are remembered for many memorable reasons. They don’t have to be the life changing moments just mentioned. They might be remembered for the first taste of something new and exotic, the meal served with the most care and attention, the meal had in the most beautiful location or with the most pleasant people. Memories are as varied as the people remembering them and people can have many memorable moments.
I have had many memorable meals. The first meal on my first date as an awkward teenager confused by the number of forks at the table setting. The last meal with my immediate family still intact not knowing there would never be another with all the chairs at that table filled with the faces who had sat there for so many years. The first meal served to me by a dear friend made by her own hands in her new house shared with her new partner.
Ah, but the question is the most memorable. How does one quantify memories? The most memorable may vary as the day as themselves vary. The most memorable of ten years ago may have nothing on the most memorable of today. I mention ten years for a reason for it was 10 years ago, 10 years and a month actually, that I was diagnosed with bladder cancer. The cancer itself was easily treated but the patient did not so easily recover. I had a particularly difficult time, convalescing for a particularly long time. I did not know on the day I entered the hospital for a life saving yet still relative routine operation, that for the next 8 months most of my meals would be taken intravenously. From then, a slow progression began until I finally was able to once again enjoy the taste of food. The taste of any food would have qualified as memorable. Even hospital food was a gastronomic delight!
It was then, during those months of not knowing if I was ever going to have any other meals, let alone another particularly memorable meal, that I determined of all the meals I’d had which was the single most memorable. I discovered that the most memorable meal I ever had, is the one I’ll have tomorrow.
And now we ask you, can you say what is your most memorable moment? Every moment of every day has the potential to be one that will be never forgotten. Those memorable moments can be anything and happen anytime. Perhaps it’s best to not be concerned with superlatives. They may all be the best, or the best may be a memory yet to come. But be sure of this, some part of today make somebody a memorable moment. We wish for that person that it is a good memory and yet not as memorable as what tomorrow’s may be.
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