Create a Memories Timeline

Some dates are easily remembered like:

• birthdays and anniversaries
• deaths of loved ones
• Mother's and Father's Day
• Valentine's Day
• Religious holidays

There are other days that are also worth remembering and could bring happiness to our lives by reminiscing and reliving these moments.

Revive55 Challenge:

1. Create a memories timeline. You can do this in a spreadsheet or document. 
2. Find dates to add to your timeline. For example (besides the obvious ones), find: 
• dated photos - especially the ones you added in your memories folders from Revive55 Challenge #1 and #5
• your mortgage for the date you bought your house
• ticket stubs for a sports event or concert
• Google for dates like: 
• Jays first World Series win October 24, 1992
• Raptors NBA Championship June 13, 2019 
• Mike Weir Masters win - April 13, 2003
• your city or town's birthday (Toronto - March 6, 1834)
• Live-Aid - July 13, 1985
• date your favourite album or movie was released
• work dates on your résumé
• graduation 
• passport stamps
• Timehop app and Facebook Memories remind us of what we posted on social media on certain dates.
3. Add events to your calendar or Day One-type app to be reminded of them on anniversaries.
4. Keep the timeline handy to add more events as you are reminded of them. 

Result:

As you add more events, you'll end up with a list of wonderful memories that you can remember and celebrate.

As a New Year's resolution last year, my husband and I started a timeline of our lives that included dates for our significant life events. This is a sample of a long document. I have taken out some of the personal identifying details but it looks like this. The colour codes refer to work, home and travel.

As I started the Revive55 Project and was going through my childhood mementos, I wanted to add dates that were on programmes, photos and certificates of minor events.

I found that minor events were cluttering up the prettier table so I decided to make a spreadsheet that would hold more information. Here's a sample that includes major and minor memories:

Eventually "fun memories" will be divided into concert/music memories, sports events, family and friends memories.

For example, on the anniversary of the day we went on a special trip we can celebrate by enjoying the photos and videos we took; by making a meal or going to a restaurant that reminds us of that trip; documenting the stories or travelling back to the location.

We can celebrate the anniversary of a special concert by listening to a playlist we make that duplicates the setlist of the concert or watching videos of the band playing live. I love the setlist.fm website that posts setlists to most concerts I have attended.

Do They Know It's Christmas was recorded on November 25th 1984. In 2009, I wrote this blog post about listening to that song every November 25th.

I am posting this specific challenge today because it is Friday the 13th. December 13th may not be significant to most of you. I normally remember it as my friend's birthday. This year however, I am remembering it differently because it reminded me of December 13th 1996 which was also a Friday.

I was pregnant with two due dates: December 9th and 12th. Throughout the pregnancy, I thought it would be cool to have a 12/12 birthday boy. With my due date past, 23 years ago, my husband and I went to see The English Patient at Varsity Theatre on Friday the 13th. We sat in the last row close to the exit door in case I went into labour. Luckily I didn't.

I am being reminded of the time before we were parents. I got my pregnancy journal out and reminisced about the days when it used to be just the two of us. Rewatching The English Patient, as much as I enjoyed it at the time, isn't something that will add happiness to my life today, but I watched some clips on YouTube that I enjoyed.

We had plans to go see a movie at the Varsity Theatre tonight, but with a tickle in my throat, that's not meant to be. I still enjoyed reminiscing, writing this post and coming up with the term "Memories Timeline".

By travelling back in time to meaningful memories, we can look forward to future moments that will be worth remembering by reminiscing, reliving or creating new memories.

In a future Revive55 Challenge, we will make future plans to create new memories inspired by our past experiences.