No Mickey Mouse Story!

Time, which changes people, does not alter the image we have retained of them. ~Marcel Proust

In the Disney re-telling of the well-known “A Christmas Carol,” one of the scenes is striking. Scrooge McDuck (a.k.a. Ebenezer Scrooge) was being taken on a tour of his past by Jiminy Cricket (the Ghost of Christmas Past). As Scrooge glimpsed himself at an early age, losing the love of “Isabel Duck” as he paid closer attention to his piles of money, he couldn’t stand the pain of his past.

Scrooge lamented to Jiminy Cricket to “Take me home. I can no longer stand these memories!” It was Jiminy’s reply that brought a powerful lesson forward. He explained, “Remember Scrooge, you fashioned these memories yourself.”

Of course, we all have missed an opportunity at one time or another to craft a positive memory for someone we love. If we think about it very much, we will wish we had done things differently. But that’s not the point.

If it is indeed we ourselves who fashion life’s memories, then we also have the power to fashion good ones – beginning now. It is what we do NOW to craft a special memory for others that will last far beyond tomorrow.