Considering the fact that this year more then any other year, my past has not only been creeping up on me - but catching me at every turn. In just the first two months of this year, I have gotten re-acquainted with more people from my past then I ever have before in my life. It seems as if I have been given the ability to visit my life at any point I want while still living in the present. While it has been shocking sometimes - it has been wonderful. To get the ability to reflect, remember - and recall so many wonderful memories with so many of the people that I lived them with has been a blessing.

But while meeting these members of my past again has been great - there is a side effect. Recently, I have been getting so many flashbacks of memories from my past that I feel like my overloaded head is going to explode. This is an obvious result of my past creeping up on me. I would meet someone who I haven't spoken to in years and then, since I just saw them again, remember so many fun times that this person and I had. This instant replay of my life has made me realize just how important it is to remember the special times you have had. So I ask you - will you remember the times of your life?

Besides the memories you have in your head, there are so many other ways you can reflect on those special memories of your life. Pictures, songs, "nick-nacks" - and letters and cards you have received are a great way to wax nostalgic.

People tell me I am nuts because I have dozens of pictures on my website of people I don't even talk to anymore. They think I should take them down. Why? That picture is a snapshot in time of that point in my life when those people were very important to me - and besides that - those pictures are a great tool when one wishes to pay their past a visit. Looking at pictures of you and the people around you in that photo remind you of why you took a picture with them at that very moment.

Songs also are a remembrance of what once was. If they weren't - we wouldn't all own one of those "compilation" albums that catalogues the songs we listened to when we grew up. But it doesn't just mark the date in your life - but the stage in your life. That song could be an anthem that you and your friends always listened to together - sort of the way Wayne and Garth listened to Bohemian Rhapsody. It could be a song that reminds you of a girl that played it for you and told you that it reminded them of you. Or - it could be a song remembering someone you lost. No matter the memory the song brings - I bet if you listen to a song from your past - it will bring back a lot more then just the lyrics.

As I recently mentioned in my column, A Shelf Full Of Stories, "nick-nacks" can also be a reminder of your past. They say every picture tells a story - but so does items that might make you recall where, when or how you got it. Try it. Go pick up something in your house from your past. Maybe a seashell from a vacation, or a mug from a bar - or a figurine - and remember where you were in your life when you got it.

Cards and letters that you received from someone in your past is to me, the most personal way to remember people you knew. Here is something that was written to you in the person's own handwriting. And you have it for all time. What I would give for the cards my father gave me as a child. Or the letters I got from a girl who was my pen pal - and my first kiss - when I was 12. I'll prove it. Go get a card that someone gave you and read it - I bet you will instantly remember that person.

So what I am saying is that you should always remember the times of your life - because life is always moving forward - and as we travel ahead on the road of life - it's always nice to look in the rear view mirror a few times.

"Gather moments while you may,
collect the dreams you dream today, remember.
Will you remember?"
Paul Anka - The Times Of Your Life