Fond Memories of My Early Years

Gratitude takes center stage as we explore how looking back at our childhood with appreciation, regardless of its imperfections, can lead to emotional and spiritual abundance. Whether your upbringing was a dream or a challenge, there’s always room to break cycles and craft a nurturing environment for future generations. I invite you to reflect on these experiences and insights, using gratitude as a foundation to create wonderful childhood experiences for yourself and others. Tune in to feel inspired, to reminisce, and to perhaps find that gratitude can indeed be a transformative force in your life and the lives of those you love.

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Here For the Memories

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Here for the memories thought-provoking audio memoir
shorts filled with stories,humor, anecdotes and commentary
on social, cultural, businessand religious issues.
Whatever Lyndon remembers andthinks will entertain, challenge
and inform is a possiblesubject.

(00:20):
The collection of memoriesabout one's life allows for the
development and refinement of asense of self, including who one
is, how one has changed andwhat one might be like in the
future.

Speaker 2 (00:34):
Greetings and salutations.
This is Lyndon Wolfe and youhave stumbled upon I hope not
literally, let's say you justprovidentially found my audio
memoir here for the Memories.
It is not a podcast.
It is me sharing about my life,my opinions, my experiences.
I started a written memoir, gotup to about 40,000 words and

(00:59):
said I'm not sure anyone wouldwant to read this, but maybe
they will listen to some small,brief excerpts on my life and
then they'll have something as apoint of reference when I
depart this planet.
They may not want to knowanything more about me, maybe
they think they know too muchalready, but nonetheless I'm
going to leave something behind.
So I haven't done this yet.
I'm up in the 40s in episodesand I haven't gone back to the

(01:23):
beginning, and I will.
I was born at a very young ageand I was born at St Mary's
Hospital in Knoxville, tennessee.
It was such a momentousoccasion and there was such
great celebration that St Mary'salmost changed the name of the
hospital to St Lyndon's.
There was a meeting of thehospital to St Lyndon's.

(01:44):
There was a meeting of theboard of directors.
That unfortunately failed asthey were concerned about
potential retribution from theCatholic Church.
So at that point.
My family suggested that maybethe board should rename the
psych ward in my honor, but thatwas met with complete
indifference.
That story seems toounbelievable, so I want you to

(02:07):
know that I'm going tointentionally leave it out of
this audio memoir.
A glimpse into my early life,with more details to come, I'm
sure, should help you understandthe underpinnings of who I am.
Like anyone else, my formativeyears are the hermeneutical lens
through which the reader canmore clearly see the tension

(02:27):
caused by my frequent inabilityto live up to the standards I
was raised with.
Growing up, I had the bestfamily one could hope for far,
far better than I deservedStellar, salt-of-the-earth
parents, model older siblingsthat set the bar far too high
for me, and usually a loyal muttof a dog rooting around me

(02:50):
affectionately, Although we wereprobably financially at the
lower end of middle class.
This was something that Iwasn't aware of, with both
parents growing up during theDepression of the 30s.
My father was born in 1920, mymother in 1924.
My upbringing instilled in me anunderstanding of the difference

(03:12):
between needs and wantsSomething I need to be reminded
of often and an understandingthat I think our culture
desperately needs the unstatedvalues that everyone in the home
followed were very clearRespect those in authority and
live by the golden rule Givegenerously when you can, work

(03:34):
hard, strive to do your absolutebest and aim to become a better
person.
Excuses weren't tolerated here.
Church was the center of ourlives.
Ever-present was the theme ofthe importance of always doing
the right thing.
Those, the philosophy went, whoacted rightly are rewarded,
while wrongdoers are punished.

(03:57):
An illustration of this doright and get rewarded, but do
wrong and get punished.
Mantra is a goal my parents gaveto each child If we didn't
smoke or drink and my parentswere proud, outspoken
teetotalers and abstain fromtobacco products.
Anyway, if you didn'tparticipate in alcohol or
tobacco before you were 21, onyour birthday we were to receive

(04:20):
a $100 bill.
It was a milestone.
It was like a rite of passageto wolf adulthood.
Unfortunately, but notsurprisingly, the winning streak
of three ended with me.
I'm the youngest.
I did, however, get that $100bill anyway.

(04:41):
Why they gave it to me?
Because I was being honest whenI told them I hadn't reached
the goal and, candidly, theynever said it, but I think they
knew that I hadn't met thestandard.
Our house was small, maybe 1,200square feet, but it was big
enough for the six of us.

(05:01):
It was larger than it was whenI, the youngest, came along
Before me.
They only had about 750 squarefeet for the five of them.
However, we managed just fine.
It's funny how it didn't appearto be a small house to me until
I was much older, and I wishI'd never recognized that it was

(05:22):
smaller than I rememberedMother yes, we never called her
mom or mommy stayed at homewhile dad did his time with a
Department of Energy facilityfamously known for its part in
the Manhattan Project and theensuing nuclear bomb dropped
twice, of course, in Japan toconclude World War II.

(05:44):
He was there for over 40 years,woefully underpaid and
underappreciated, but he paidthe bills at least most of the
time.
Adding braces and classes andsports to our already
overwhelming expenses wouldsometimes throw a wrench in the
precarious household finances,but again, we managed, as best I

(06:05):
can tell, because theyprotected me from the financial
challenges.
They didn't tell us that theywere strapped for money and it
was difficult to make ends meet.
They wanted us to have thehappiest and the most worry-free
life possible as children.
No one talked about howstressful things were.

(06:26):
My parents never mentionedtheir sacrifices.
No one acknowledged theirsacrifices.
If they had pain, it was hiddenfrom us.
It's taught me an importantlesson about strength, and that
lesson has followed methroughout my life, watching
them endure and faithfully dothe right thing and do it as

(06:48):
well as they could.
They modeled an enviablecharacter and fortitude, amid
struggles and theinevitabilities of living in a
broken world, a world where noone remains unscathed from its
harsh realities.
I thank God for my parents.
You know they get smarter,wiser, better every day I live.

(07:13):
I wish they were still here.
I know I will see them soon.
I will see them soon, but inthe meantime I need to be
reminded of the gratitude andappreciation I should have for
the gift God gave me in myparents.
I pray you have a similarposition.

(07:34):
You're grateful, you'rethankful.
You look back over yourchildhood and say it was
wonderful, I had great parentsand we may not have had
everything, but we had more thanwe need, not only financially
and physically, but emotionallyand spiritually.
And if not, I'm sorry.
I pray, if you look back andyour parents weren't that great

(07:57):
and your childhood wasn't thatwonderful, that you're one that
breaks the cycle and you'recommitted to becoming the person
and parent, you wanted yourparents to be, and you endeavor
to help others around.
You experience what would bethe equivalent now of a

(08:17):
wonderful childhood God bless.

Speaker 1 (08:21):
Hello friends, If you appreciate the content and what
it takes to create and deliverit, please consider a small
contribution.
Just go to buymeacoffeecomslash here for the memories.
That's buymeacoffeecom slashhere for the memories Much
appreciated.