{"id":141,"date":"2007-01-09T11:20:39","date_gmt":"2007-01-09T11:20:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/?p=141"},"modified":"2007-01-09T11:38:16","modified_gmt":"2007-01-09T11:38:16","slug":"dont-forget-to-remember-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/?p=141","title":{"rendered":"Don’t Forget to Remember Me"},"content":{"rendered":"

Carrie Underwood sings a song “Don’t Forget to Remember Me<\/strong>.” It’s a powerful tune about a young lady who goes out on her own and the various people in her life that she doesn’t want to forget. She asks several times in the song if those people will remember her as well.<\/p>\n

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I think we all want to be remembered in some way.<\/p>\n

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I was reminded of that song last night as I had dinner with three young adults.<\/p>\n

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One was my son’s girlfriend, Laura. Laura just turned 21 and starts an internship in Charlotte next week. Pierce, my 23 year old son who turns 24 on Sunday was also with us. Then there was my niece’s boyfriend, David.<\/p>\n

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David and I already had plans for dinner. I asked Pierce and Laura at the last minute since I knew it would be the last time I’d see her before she left to go to Charlotte.<\/p>\n

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Hanging out with young people is always fun. They have an enthusiasm for life that can be very contagious.<\/p>\n

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As I listened to their conversations and interjected my own thoughts, I realized that they all had a common thread that they likely didn’t even realize was there.<\/p>\n

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They each were involved in things that were making a positive difference in the lives of others.<\/p>\n

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Laura had just had her beautiful, long dark hair cut off. It looked great the way she wore it before. Her new hairdo made her even more of a breathtaking beauty. Laura’s hairdresser suggested that if she cut off one more inch than she had planned, she could donate it to “Locks of Love.” That organization takes the hair and “redesigns” it into wigs for cancer patients.<\/p>\n

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We celebrated her decision to do that.<\/p>\n

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David had just made a trip over to my house to drop off some things. He unloaded a trunk full of stuffed animals my niece, also named Laura, sent to me to donate to children who “needed them more than she did.” Laura grew up collecting stuffed animals and she had so many of them when she moved into her apartment near Raleigh, NC that they took up a whole closet and then more.<\/p>\n

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Laura grew up with most of them, but, as time went on, she knew they could do someone else good and she wanted to make sure they did. There will be plenty of opportunity for that where these are going locally. Some will even be sent to Romania to a church along with warm hats and scarves my mother is busy making.<\/p>\n

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Ironically enough, David’s Laura also had her long blonde hair cut several weeks ago to share it with “Locks of Love.” She looks lovely without the long hair. It’s not the first time she has done this and she began the process of growing it out again for the same reason.<\/p>\n

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David was gracious enough to bring those stuffed animals back from a visit to Raleigh so I could get them to where they needed to go. I don’t know many men who would carry around a car full of stuffed animals.\u00c2\u00a0 Not only did David do this simple thing to help out, but he also recently made some decisions regarding a job that made a powerful impact on his personal relationships. He put others first and had little regret about making that decision. It was his caring nature that led him there.<\/p>\n

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Then there is Pierce. Pierce was getting ready to help Laura load up her furniture on a U-Haul and drive it up, unload it, and help her arrange it. He was making this work in-between work appointments in Rock Hill and Charleston. He even arranged to have friends help unload things there in Charlotte so the move would be a little easier.<\/p>\n

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So what do all these have in common? They all remind me that as we walk through this life, it should be our goal to do things others will remember. For me, the evening was full of examples of that kind of spirit. It makes me glad to know each one of them. It makes me proud they are doing things for others in their own unique ways.<\/p>\n

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I won’t forget their kindnesses. In fact, I will remember each of them for their thoughtfulness and caring attitudes.<\/p>\n

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My wish for you today<\/strong> is that you spend time listening to young people. Encourage them to do things that make a difference and savor the moments when they share with you how doing things for others fits into their daily lives. Your life will be enriched by seeing into the giving nature of our youth. Sometimes you may have to sort through other issues to find it, but it is often there if nurtured and encouraged. Be an encourager. You may just be remembered, like these young people are, for the small but powerful differences one can make in the world today.<\/p>\n

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~ Joellen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Carrie Underwood sings a song “Don’t Forget to Remember Me.” It’s a powerful tune about a young lady who goes out on her own and the various people in her life that she doesn’t want to forget. She asks several times in the song if those people will remember her as well. I think we […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,16,27,31,30,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-friendship","category-life-events","category-living-life-to-the-fullest","category-releationships-general","category-teenagers","category-serving-others"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=141"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}