Keane Week 13: Savoring Early Memories

Some of my fondest memories are the most distant in location and age. When I was a toddler, before kindergarten, I would spend months at a time in Thailand at my grandparents' house over the summer. There I would feed the two dogs that lived in their backyard, play with Legos and other toys, go to theme parks, and frequent a large indoor playground. Occasionally, we would go on day drives south to Hua Hin at a resort, where I ate food and swam by the beach. But some of the best memories were with my grandparents; teaching them how to play cards, my grandma knitting pajamas for me and my grandpa telling me stories as I fell asleep. Back then I didn’t know that I would still remember and cherish those seemingly small moments. They seemed insignificant, everyday occurrences that I took for granted. It was a simpler, stress-free
period.

(Picture by iStock)

We often don’t realize in the present that our life now would be something nostalgic. I had played club soccer for nearly my whole life without being thankful I was able to go to practice, being upset we had to drive 2 hours to get to a game. Yet when I abruptly quit due to a number of reasons, I now look back at my time on club soccer wishing I could be back. The same is happening with high school. The quickly fleeting time is passing by alarmingly fast, already we are juniors. If you play a sport, you now only have 1 season left with the team. The thought that soon I will be in college and that high school will soon become so distant I can only remember bits of it is frightening.

To my great excitement, I recently learned that this summer I would be going to the yearly Thailand visit, not for a couple weeks, as we normally do and have done the past 2 summers, but for nearly the entire vacation. I resolve to enjoy my time there to the fullest, and waste none, so I am able to better capture the memories when future me looks back.

Comments

  1. Danial HashemiMarch 26, 2024 at 8:59 AM

    Hi Keane,
    I relate to your love for your childhood memories of visiting your grandparents. When I was younger, I used to visit my grandparents in Iran and my great-grandma would knit clothes for me as my cousin and I played around the house. My grandparents would also visit me in America when I was very young and walk me to preschool, where we would talk and time would fly by. I agree that these moments were simply daily occurrences at the time and I would not realize they would later become core memories of mine and while it is impossible to relive these memories, I feel instead of holding on to them forever people should try to make new, even happier memories.
    I am also sad that my soccer career will likely be coming to an end next season, but this has fueled me to make it my best season yet, so I am excited for the start of my next season and another chance to demonstrate my ability. Though college is growing closer every day, I try not to think about leaving my family and home too much since I know I will miss them. Instead, I feel the best course of action for myself and others nearing their last year of high school is to spend as much time with their family as they can whether it's through vacations to Thailand, Iran, or simply spending time with each other at home.

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  2. Ethan NguyenMarch 26, 2024 at 10:42 PM

    Hello, Keane. I could not agree more with the first part of your blog where you stated “Some of my fondest memories are the most distant in location and age.” You painted a pleasant picture that was nice to follow and read through. You then tied it neatly to the main point of your blog: that “We often don’t realize in the present that our life now would be something nostalgic.” The use of specific examples such as “The quickly fleeting time” created and the time spent with your family felt more relatable. I hope you truly enjoyed those experiences and the upcoming visit to Thailand, and that the memories you look forward to in the future manifest.

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  3. Jiya ShahMarch 27, 2024 at 6:12 PM

    Hi Keane, I loved how you gave examples of some of your childhood memories as it made the blog more fun to read and I also agree with your first statement about how the best memories are from our childhood. All your examples had a lot of imagery making it more visual and appealing. I could also relate to many of your examples as I would also visit my grandma and playing cards with her, all grandmas love cards, I think. I thought I will not remember any of these memories, but I do, and they are the best moment of my life. I like how you transitioned into explaining that we do not realize some of the important memories and after a while we start to miss our past wishing we were grateful to it. I am actually very excited for college and to leave high school, but I understand that we feel as if our childhood is almost over, and we will have to make new friends. This change can be scary, and, in the future, we might barely remember our high school memories. It's good that you will be visiting Thailand and I hope you have a great time there. Overall, I loved your blog as it had a unique topic of showing the importance of nostalgic memories and to always cherish every moment in life.

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  4. Sanika YadavApril 17, 2024 at 9:27 AM

    Hi Keane, I greatly relate to your blog especially when you mentioned, “Some of my fondest memories are the most distant in location and age,” and “Back then I didn’t know that I would still remember and cherish those seemingly small moments.” While reading your blog and the personal experiences that you shared, it reminded me of some of the memories that I still cherish to this day. For instance, some of these memories include my best friends and I from when we were in elementary school and how we would always harmlessly prank each other and laugh about it afterwards. At the time, as you mentioned, these activities were quite insignificant, and it was a time when we all didn’t have a worry in the world. However, now as I look back, I realize how much fun those times were and I often think about how nice it would be to return to them. More importantly, I also realized from this that we take many experiences for granted. Therefore, I believe that it is crucial to live in the present moment and enjoy the time you have with your loved ones so when looking back on those memories you do not have any regrets. Overall, I really enjoyed reading your blog and the topics of nostalgia and memory that you discussed within it. Thank you for sharing!

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