 Daily, we are creating memories that will serve to either unite or divide our family that will be stored and invested, to be recalled later with either sadness or happiness.
Celebrations for birthdays, weddings, and funerals are events where long-term memories are created. As part of our construction of the Fletcher Memorial, my brother-in-law, nieces, and others, worked together to build the concrete foundation that would later be covered with granite chips.
 I thought this would be a grand opportunity to write our names in the concrete in an area that will hopefully not be disturbed by future burials. This also serves to create a treasure that will evoke positive memories. In essence, this is a time capsule within the collective memories of those who worked together, known to each of us, and available to anyone who may desire to sweep back the granite cover at some future point in time for a peek into the past. I can visualize descendants’ generations from now standing at the memorial site being told the story of the construction of the memorial and how we worked together to create a beautiful family memorial.
 While I do not often think of this quality of my character, surely, I am a sentimentalist. Unquestionably, sentimentalism is a quality to my personality that serves me well as a memorialist. I would not want to work with a memorialist who was not a sentimentalist, as emotion and art go hand in hand throughout the creative process.
Just as it is true that you should take time to smell the roses, also take time to write your name in the concrete. Create your own living time capsule of symbols that reinforce a common heritage and family unity; after all, it is the right thing to do!
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