Just for the love of it....It's all the reason you need.

Sometimes I think about the "good ole days"-back when I was a child, and I recall the stories my parents told me from when they were children and I am amazed by how things have changed.

Although we live in a day and time where we have more opportunities for people to connect than ever before-it seems that people are even less connected to the people they love than one would imagine.
It got me to wondering-when did people stop going on real picnics? Under a big shade tree with a blanket on the ground for a table-out in the country somewhere in the Spring time with wild flowers growing all around. When did we stop swimming in ponds, lakes, and streams?
I remember the best times of my life was playing softball/kickball with the neighborhood children, riding my bike, and playing games all Summer long! We would play until it got dark-then we would all gather in one neighbors yard when it was so dark we couldn't see, and we would play "ain't no ghost in the graveyard". What wonderful fun we had, and it cost us nothing but time. We did it-because we loved it, and we loved each other!

More memories of my childhood are.....swimming with my friends (who lived in the country) in a pond behind their house. Going for long walks-just to pick flowers. Eating popsicles when it was so hot-they melted before we could eat them. I would go home just long enough to eat dinner with the whole family. Altho' we had more family than space enough to fit around the table.....we had some wonderful times together. Laughter, joking around, and spending time together was something we never lacked. Often times we would go back outdoors after dinner to play with our friends or each other until we had to go to bed. We did it because we loved it, and we loved each other.

I will never forget how we would catch "lightening bugs" as we called them, and put them in jars with holes in the top, so we could watch them "light" up at night.
In the fall and winter of the year-we would build fires outside and roast marshmallows and hot dogs, and just sit outside by the fire as long as we could stand it.
One time we set up a band in our garage and had a neighborhood concert. Almost all the neighbors came out to listen-It was such fun!
We didn't have tv, movies, video games, or much of anything else, but we had each other. We did it all because we loved it, and we loved each other.

We had a closeness as a family that some families do not seem to have these days. I wonder how connected families really are today? I miss those times.

If you are blessed with family (or people) to share your lives with, people that you love-who love you-cherish them with all your heart. Don't ever get too busy to stop and walk thru the flowers just to walk thru the flowers. Or to build a fire just to sit around it and make memories. Do it because you love it, and you love each other. Do it while you can, with whom you can, for as long as you can.