Thanks For November

Thanksgiving may not be the juggernaut Christmas is, but it still inspires us for the month of November. With Halloween over, except for the sugar highs, and the air taking on a frosty note, November gets me thinking about what I am thankful for.
I hear a lot about families and friends, in addition to numerous inventions, and yes, I am thankful for all that. But what I am really most thankful for is memory, or lack thereof.
Memories can be happy or sad, but each one let's us build on a previous experience. When I was 17, I added to much water to bisquick and got soup. Yum. Never did that again. And I always remember how much fun I have with certain people, and how I want to ram my foot up the ass of the ones who annoy me.
But I am most thankful for my young son's lack of memory, and I truly believe that is a gift from God. Parenting, especially the first time around, is fraught with error. The time I left Asa in the garage in his car seat, with no lights on, makes me furious with myself. So is the time he rolled down our short flight of stairs, rolled off the bed, or the time he started crying when I was in the shower. Ouch-he would have a lot to tell his therapist if he could remember all that. But God cuts us some slack-we get a few years to at least work out the major kinks. Sure, Asa has learned we love him because we hug him again and again (and maybe throw in a few kisses as well.) He can slowly build on that. But the one time in the dark garage is gone. Whew.
If you think about it, the fact that none of us (not just my son) are born with memory is a gift for all of us. Childhood, in relation to the rest of our lives, is the shortest time period of all. Assuming we live to be 80, and assuming we are in childhood till about 18, that is LESS than 1/4 of our lives, and yet it seems to last so long.