Experiences > material things

The holidays are right around the corner. Which means the gift giving season is upon us and it has me thinking back on past holidays of what was given and loved and this is the conclusion I came to. Experiences are hands down better than material things.

Memories like these are never forgotten. Time spent together as a family is something I will never be able to get enough of. I was fortunate to have been both born into and married into incredible families. Most aren't as lucky as I am. Which is more reason to embrace experiences and make memories. Board and Brush was one of those things I will forever cherish. It was a gift given to us by Grandma Linda and I will always be thankful for. This was over two years ago and I still remember it so fondly.

In this case, her gift gave us both and experience and a material item. We all made our own sign or crate whatever it was we choose and was able to bring it home. I still have my sign to this day and I imagine I will keep it for many years to come. You will forever be my always. I love this sign and I love the fact I was able to create it with my husband family.

This is what I want to give people, memories like these. Things to encourage others to get out of their house, doing something other than work and sleep. Things like concerts, dinner, zoo, magic house, ax throwing, bowling, a weekend down at the river together. The list is endless. This is what I believe we will remember. This is what I want for my boys, happy memories of fun things we did as a family.

But this year will be different for us. It will be a hard holiday season because we lost Dwayne these past few months and nothing will be the same. There is such a huge void in my heart and the boys miss their papa deeply. I can't imagine what it's like for his kids and Julie, his wife. It won't be the same but Dwayne would want us to make happy memories. His loss shows us, reminds us that nothing is promised. That each day is a blessing and never to take anything for granite.

That means this holiday season I want to give experiences so we can spend time together, doing stuff we will remember and cherish.

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