I once heard the words, "A person is not dead until you forget them."  I've taken those words with me for life.  When my brother passed, I vowed never to forget him so in my heart he would never die.  Out of blue comes green.

I've lead a happy life taking the memories and lesson of my brothers death with me.  And although everything couldn't be perfect and happy at every turn he is in my heart.   Few things sadden me.  He never met my sons.  He wasn't there for my wedding day,  and never met my wife.  Despite these things, I remember him with fondness.  The thought that some one is never truly gone until you forget them taught me many things.  The meaning of it became a keepsake.  

Then there are keepsakes we think of when we are in the moment.  Such as when you go to a beach that you may never return to, you pick up some sand or a seashell. 

There are photos you take with friends to prove you were there.  Those photos become your way of keeping the moment forever.  As long as you can pick up that picture and see you or you and that friend or friends in that place or moment, you will always be there.  They say your mind can play tricks on you, we often want our mind to be tricked.  Our keepsakes are our means to and end.

You sometimes see people in news coverage sifting through debris after a tornado or hurricane.  What do they want to find?  They don't care about the plasma TV or toaster.  They want their keepsakes.  They want their memories.  Good memories.  Their house is gone, but they want those memories.  In the end, they are left only to reach into their own minds for the good times.

I take a lot of photos.  I take them of me and my children.  Infinitely more than I ever publish here. LOL  One day when I'm old and gray.  They will be adult men.  They will have wives and children of their own.  I may look back on these days when I could stand on the same little league field with my sons.  I may remember how my son and I would work as a team playing paintball.   I will remember fondly our catches in the back yard.   I will think back to how we sang silly songs together in the car.  I will remember how each of us stood in awe at the top of the Empire State Building and so many other meaningful memories.  I may begin to lose my memory and hopefully these keepsakes will bring back the happy thoughts of the life I've lived.

In the end, your memory is your keepsake.  The things you are able to hold onto in life are the trigger to the thought of those good times.  May you always be able to remember a happy moment and put a smile your face.