Create a memory and visit it often
“Few things bond people together like a shared memory. Soldiers who battle together, teammates who win a championship, and work teams that hit their goals share a connection that never goes away. Married couples who experience rough times can often look back on their earlier experiences together to keep them going. Families bond when they rough it on trips or share adventures on vacation and then love recounting their experience years later.”
John Maxwell & Les Parrott, 25 Ways to Win with People (Thomas Nelson, 2005)
I recently did something unusual and took my children with me to Cape Town while on a speaking trip. It was school holidays; I was able to get airline tickets at a great price and one of the goals of my speaking career has been to enable my children to travel. It was time to turn that goal into a reality.
This trip certainly was more memorable than most of my other business trips because the boys and I created shared memories that we can dine out on, and laugh about for years to come. Let’s look at the “remember when moments” we created in just four days, most were very simple:
- Getting a fabulous hired car upgrade. My eldest son, Ryan (15) had a very strong intention that this would happen and it did! He had also booked the car through a different car hire company on the Internet that was R400.00 cheaper than my usual supplier!
- Dinner with friends where we laughed ourselves silly about the pronunciation of the Indian word ‘poppadums’ while actually enjoying a Mexican meal! It will be forever known as ‘The Pompadom evening’ (you had to be there to appreciate it, but isn’t that what memories are about?).
- I was playing tour guide in the centre of Cape Town when I found myself driving on the wrong side of the road. Believe it or not, there was a police car right next to me. My children were so embarrassed.
- Sailing on a yacht outside the V & A Waterfront after my sons had haggled with the operator until they reached the price I was prepared to pay, and taking Titanic-style “King of the World” photographs on the bow of the yacht.
- Watching my first 3D movie. I was so exhausted from all the visual stimulation that I fell asleep for the last 20 minutes and didn’t see the ending!
On our return, Matthew (10) stood in the queue to pay for parking at the airport. He put two one hundred Rand notes into the machine and it spewed out two hundred Rand in R5.00 coins. It was like playing with a slot machine! He came out of the building, grinning from ear to ear with bulging pockets, worried that they were about to split. Yes, of course we went back and paid for the parking — using a different machine!
We will never forget these little memories because they defined the trip for us. I’m so glad I took my children with me and made the time to be with them. As John Maxwell so beautifully puts it:
“If you don’t carve out the time, you can’t create the memory.”
