ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES: Making memories is important

Story and photos by Jean Knouse

summer is a time for everyone — children, teens and adults — to enjoy family events, concerts and visits to every corner of Pennsylvania. In addition to all of the special memories you will tuck away for future discussions and laughfests, you will certainly take more photos than you will ever need. So, edit and save when you get home. Perhaps there will be one you’ll frame and treasure. There is little doubt your children — and you — will need to save room in the luggage or car trunk for mementos and souvenirs — something you find or purchase as a physical reminder of a place or an event. Concerts and performances provide an amazing opportunity to gather mementos like ticket stubs or programs. Photos are likely prohibited at a concert, but, perhaps, like my sister, you’ll keep a list of those you’ve attended on your phone so you are always prepared to compare your list with a friend’s. Family reunions, picnics and special events — especially after the past two years — will give us time to reconnect with relatives and friends. Perhaps someone in your family will create special T-shirts to identify your group. Photos will document the event. Don’t forget to add the names of everyone to your phone and/or the album you should create. Fifty years later, your great-grandchildren will want to be able to identify each person and understand why that person was special to you or your family. Day or week-end trips to Discover Pennsylvania will provide endless opportunities for mementos, photos and souvenirs. Smaller children will surely need to buy something, but they are easily attracted to the trinkets that are for sale. As parents, we hate saying “no” to every request, so why not agree to a T-shirt or hat and then take this opportunity to set a budget for the child to choose something he or she wants — no questions asked. Perhaps you could advise them to look for things they think will still be valuable when they get home. You never know, they might begin a collection that will continue throughout their lifetime! A souvenir doesn’t have to advertise the name of the place you purchased it. I collect Christmas ornaments and each holiday season, I get to hang memories on my Christmas tree. Take the opportunity to thoughtfully document your trip: photos, a menu, a ticket stub or a hat. Whatever you choose, make it into a memory.

WHETHER THE CONCERT IS AT BUCKNELL UNIVERSITY OR THE BRYCE JORDAN CENTER, YOU WILL GET A TICKET AND — PERHAPS — A PROGRAM. Jean Knouse/Inside Pennsylvania

Jean Knouse/Inside Pennsylvania I BOUGHT THIS “FISH” AT THE SHAD FEST HELD ON THE DELAWARE RIVER IN LAMBERTVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA 20 YEARS AGO. EVERY YEAR WHEN I HANG IT ON MY CHRISTMAS TREE, I REMEMBER THE WONDERFUL TIME WE HAD WITH GOOD FRIENDS ON THAT DAY AND HOW WE LAUGHED BECAUSE WHEN THEY PULLED THE SHAD NET OUT OF THE RIVER, THERE WAS JUST ONE FISH IN THE HUMUNGOUS NET. THE NEXT CATCH WAS MORE PRODUCTIVE.