The Way We Were
After a recent move, I found a tote of 77 home movies that were on 8mm tapes. I asked a high school friend that owned a business that converted tapes to DVDs to take on this project. They finished the conversion and gave them to me at the beginning of the summer. I was anxious to watch the DVDs of my boys growing up, which included family members who have since passed away. What I didn’t realize is that we captured some of the most precious memories at our home in Sullivan Farms. As I watched, Haley Sue would appear in many always smiling, laughing and having a great time as she led the pack of kids that lived on our street. Haley was always the leader, coming up with games, skits and performances. She would dress up everyone, even all the boys in Pam’s cheerleading outfits – do everyone’s hair and makeup, have them dancing and entertaining the Parents who would be the LIVE audience of their production. Even then, she did it with grace and love. They all seemed to go right along with whatever she directed them to do. Those were precious memories that lay in the corners of my mind. The memories of simpler times, happy memories that I enjoyed watching traveling down memory lane. As I watched, tears would flow as I relived those precious moments. Those tears were healing to my broken heart over Haley Sue. I realized how fortunate I am to say I knew that precious girl. Everyone that has that privilege to say, “I knew her” has that memory or memories of being with Haley Sue, talking to Haley Sue, laughing with Haley Sue. I will cherish them forever. I want to close my eyes and recall the way we were. It made me think of the song, “The Way We Were” written by Barbara Streisand which was a movie about a love story.
Lyrics:
Memories Light the corners of my mind
Misty watercolor memories
Of the way we were
Scattered pictures
Of the smiles we left behind
Smiles we gave to one another
For the way we were
Can it be that it was all so simple then?
Or has time re-written every line?
If we had the chance to do it all again
Tell me, would we?
Could we?
Memories
May be beautiful and yet
What's too painful to remember
We simply to choose to forget
So, it's the laughter
We will remember
Whenever we remember
The way we were
The way we were
I will make that choice and choose to remember you, Haley Sue! I will never forget all the laugher, the fun moments that were some of the best times in my children’s life. I will choose to close my eyes and remember The Way We Were.
Love you Sweet Girl,
Kim
