By Mike Bossy

We recently started the annual family vacation at our cottage on Horn Lake. All our children, their spouses and the grandchildren are in attendance. It’s always a great week. A lot of reading, water sports and family meals. These truly are great “free days”; a period to recharge and do things that are not associated with what I regularly do at work.

I take great pleasure in reading fiction, and the first novel I picked up is Tom Clancy’s, “Act of Defiance”. I wasn’t too far into the book when I came across this line:

“Traditions, inside jokes, and making memories were the bedrock of a happy family….”

What we have done with our annual vacations together is create new memories while building on the old. I often think about the stories and memories of those buried in cemeteries. Are they told, embellished and built upon, or have they been lost in time.

Pictures and journaling are a great way to hold on to these memories. Doing this will always bring you joy.