When I was young I loved my grandmothers cooking. When she passed away however the recipes
somehow were lost, and her cooking did not pass on from generation to
generation. The only way that you pass
things on to the next generation is with a mindful effort. So, what else might my grandmother want to
pass on from her generation to my children’s generation?
My grandmother was not only a great cook but a person who
constantly showed her gratitude. It is
the month of November which I always give my students an assignment of writing
someone who had helped them in their lives a gratitude letter. My hope is to pass this moment of gratitude
along to them so that they can pass it along to others. That after doing this assignment that they
will realize how good it made both them and the person they sent it to
feel. We often procrastinate over each
word worried that the person who receives the letter is grading it like an
English assignment. The truth is that
people just love to receive these letters.
Take a minute now and just send a quick text, e-mail or make a call to
someone you would like to thank. It is
never too late to show gratitude (.great
video)
It seemed when I was young we spent more time together with
our friends. I was raised in a community
where houses were connected to each other and apartments houses were
everywhere. This type of living quarters
allowed us to have many friends who spent hours upon hours playing games and
swapping stories. Now with modern technology
we need to be more mindful of the importance of relationships. One of my former students was telling me that
she made her friends shut off their phone and place them in the middle of the
table when they went out to eat.
Otherwise we were not really eating together we were just sitting
together as we text others. If positive
relationships are the roots of resilience we must be mindful of teaching,
encouraging, modeling and reminding each other of their importance.
While it makes me sad that the next generation cannot taste
the delicious meals that my grandmother used to cook. I am sure going to be mindful that they
understand the importance of both relationships and gratitude which was so
important to her.
What do you want to
pass along? How about starting now!
I can related to the story about a student having her friends put their phones in the middle of the table during a meal. Whenever im out with friends i try my very best to focus on the conversations that are happening at the table. Its hard to have a nice meal with someone when they begin to have a sms conversation with someone who isnt actually in their presence. My grandfather is an amazing man who did lots of things with his life including but not limited to crossing the equator dozens of times while in the merchant marines, working with heavy steal and operating cranes, even placing the two giant steel doors for the presidents official hidden safety bunker. I am so inspired and interested in his stories. My grandfather often goes on rants of his stories (sometimes telling the same ones) so i decided to record the stories and conversations we had together. When my grandfather passes away, i hope that his stories wont also pass away with him. These voice memos of his stories will allow my family to reminisce and allow me to inform my children of my amazing grandfather.
ReplyDelete-Vincent Young
great idea to record his stories so that you can pass them down through your family
ReplyDeleteIf you ever need to feel gratitude or are stuck on your third of item of gratitude of your three good things just remember that the earth has existed for over 4.5 billion years and you where fortunate enough to live in the time of wawa's hoagie fest.
ReplyDeleteI can easily relate to tryin to live in the moment and show people how much I care about them. I am always checking how many hours I spend on my phone. The results are shocking. I am spending hours and hours each day on my phone. This takes away from time I could be spending with my family of other people that I love. I want to leave behind the concept of living in the moment. With all the advances in technology it becomes harder to truly experience life. I will start this not by using my phone less and connecting and having conversations with the people that I truly love.
ReplyDeleteStephen Ryan 441-2