Following the tragic explosion that rocked the Farmington community, I listened for the “people” stories. The stories that would bring healing to a devastated community. The stories Mr. Rogers inferred when he quoted his mother as she responded to his fears: “Look for the helpers. You will find people who are helping.”
The helpers are numerous here, but the WABI-TV story that resonates with me particularly is of Arkay Pizza and the co-owners, Thomas and Megan. Over the years, I’ve known the Farmer family to be amply generous to the surrounding communities. When Megan said “When I was making finger rolls, I was thinking about each fireman as I was filling them…when I make this type of pizza, they really like this so this what I want to make to send down.” she was connecting with emotional memories. She was remembering the efforts first responders put into the community to protect it and allow us to feel safer because they selflessly go in when everyone else is running out.
Emotional memories. They save us from certain personal destruction. When used in this manner, I know they serve a higher purpose. Each loving thought behind each finger roll or pizza is absorbed and passed on to the receiver. That person will not only get nutritional support for their bodies but nutritional support for their souls. They will feel loved, cared for, and remembered. And that energy will be passed on to another person who also needs that comfort.
Emotional memories are stored in the heart. So perhaps, at any age or in any circumstance, we should be conscious of what we are storing to be prepared for those days when memory may not serve us well, and our survival and the survival of others must rely on those thoughts previously stored.
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