Do you have that one time that niggles in the back of your mind when you think of your past, something you wish you would have done differently? I have a lot of them. . . But the one I’m thinking about today is a time when I was 18 years old.
I was visiting my aunt and grandmother in southern California, my birth state, the place I will always love. My grandmother decided that she was going to pay for us to go to Disneyland together. My mother is from SoCal, and we would go there to visit. Uncle Bob had a job where he could get free tickets to Disneyland which we were happy to make use of. Many fun memories were formed there for my first 10 years.
Part of my reason for coming back to visit was to relive some of those memories.
We walked into the park that morning, and the smells that greeted me, took me back to that time as a child. I loved seeing what had changed and what had not, riding my favorite rides from when I was a kid.
My grandmother had one request-
That I ride with her on the carousel. Her memories included times with me when I was very small and I loved the carousel. Apparently, we would ride it over and over again. And those were happy memories for her.
But I was young, 18, and thought that carousels were lame. I used the excuse that we would come back to it later, full well knowing I wouldn’t.
My grandmother never said anything about the carousel after that. But my lack of caring, grace, and love at that time has stayed with me, convicting me all these years later.
My grandmother is still around, now in her late 80’s. Her time for going to Disneyland is over, and it’s not something I can do over again.
Don’t have my regrets. When someone you care about asks you for something that is simple and within your power to give, give it with an open heart.
