Grief & healing: Remembering when we were young

There is a wonderful Emmy Lou Harris song about being young and getting older.

She didn’t write it but she made it a hit. And she sang another one about love never grows old. Nice.

Recently I heard a line in a TV show that young people are just naturally beautiful. Seems to me that is true.

And youth is the time of our first adventures, ones that stay in our memories forever. For us, those were fun travels, first in the U.S. and Canada, then abroad to many countries.

I have many photos on the walls of at all stages of our life together. And have photo albums and photo boxes of us together over the years. These bring me lots of joy.

Joy was one of Baheej’s wonderful qualities. I miss that every day. Even his name means joyful.

We all had our time in youth. And there are indeed lots are happy times while being young — having fun adventures, experiencing personal milestones such as getting married, and wonderful family holidays.

I recently read that when we are young, fun and happiness just come naturally. But when we are older, we still can be happy if we make an effort.

I have lots of photos around the house, at all stages of our family life together, including way back into my 20s. I’m sometimes surprised when looking at these photos on the walls; I say to myself, “Was that us?” But if I stand there a few minutes I can remember details and feelings. Nice.

The point is: I personally don’t mind getting older but do wonder what my dear Baheej would think. As long as we remember and do the best we can, I think we are OK.

• Susan Anderson-Khleif of Sleepy Hollow has a doctorate in family sociology from Harvard, taught at Wellesley College and is a retired Motorola executive. Contact her at sakhleif@aol.com.