As a youngster, I was raised in a family business, a mom-and-pop convenience store.  My mom started work at 5:30 am every morning, even on Christmas.  She brought in the newspapers, opened the cash registers for the day, and straightened the shelves to ensure everything was in order.  She would continue the day by waiting on the customers, restocking the shelves, ordering new inventory, and scheduling the other family members' work schedules since only family worked in the business.  Endless amounts of cash would go in and out of the store, trips to the bank for deposits, and stacks of bills to count.  As early as six years old, I would join her at the store to help before school.  Throughout my childhood, I learned our family's core values by working alongside my mother.

Another great way to interact and connect with extended family members, particularly older generations, is to gather together and share or record memories. How can you record your family's memories for the next generation?

While you were waking up today, someone else was taking their last breath.

I woke up today and my day started like any other; the gym, the obligatory dog walk, the never-ending conference calls, and cups of coffee…. Then, a quick peek at a text changed my next 72 hours and life forever. Someone died.

You are never to old to learn to walk…

As I watch my son and daughter-in-law prompt, cajole, and attempt to bribe my little 14-month-old grandchild to take those first steps by himself, I ask you, remember back when your child was first learning how to walk. Did you think that they would ever "get it?" Did you have a personal goal on when he would “do it?” I don't know about you, but I, too, tried everything in my power to influence and motivate.

Shhhh, mums, the word!

Confidence is underrated. So, let’ change that! What is confidence? The Oxford dictionary says it is "a feeling of self-assurance arising from one's appreciation of one's own abilities or qualities.” For this blog, we will refer to confidence as your specific lifetime experiences, best practices gathered, and legacy that only you bring to the table.

When I reflect on my parents as grandmother and grandfather, not mom and dad, they were the fun ones with the grandkids.  They were not how I remember my mom and dad growing up.  They were the disciplinarians trying to keep their five daughters in line.  Where are you going?  Who will you be with?  Be home no later than midnight since "nothing good ever happens after midnight."  But with the grandkids, they didn't have that responsibility.  They could teach them to fish, tell stories about magical fairies, bury "dinosaur" eggs for the kids to find.  They had endless treats like ice cream, cookies, and cupcakes with extra frosting.  But grandparenting, I have learned, is much more than frosting on cupcakes.

Just a brief time ago, the temperature in my neighborhood was chilly, snowy, and a little bit frosty. My gloves were never too far from the front door, and those 3-inch heels were safely put away in the closet until the snow was just a fleeting memory. The weather is teasing us that winter will soon be gone as the sun starts to warm the earth. The days are starting to get longer, and our minds travel to the sweet days of summer.

The year 1984. The memory vivid, engaging, and life-altering. No, it’s not Orwell’s book, 1984, that set the world on fire by projecting the future of oppression and a ban on individuality with all human actions being watched over by “big brother.” Yes, 1984 was the year I got married. Vivid, yes, Memorable, yes. Life-altering, yes, BUT alas, not as much as something even more exhilarating. The striking, engaging, and life-altering event introduced something so paranormal, so huge, so influenced by Twilight Zone, not Twilight. It can’t be, it can’t be…yes, it is, it’s The Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man.