Points2Ponder by Alan P. Scaglione

“Fountain Full of Priceless Memories!”

There’s this fountain in the middle of the central square in a place called Celebration, Fl. It lights up at night and it goes up and down in orchestrated movements that make young and old alike laugh and marvel at the beauty of water dancing in the air and falling flat. But sometimes, a fountain isn’t just a fountain. Sometimes, it’s a place where family memories are made, where “good times” are had!


At this fountain, I’ve seen:

My son run through it with his 1 year old son, laughing as he unexpectedly gets them both drenched.

My son-in-law and firstborn grandson dodge the water, zigzagging through the water shooting through the air.

My only granddaughter yelling excitedly “Me daddy, me! Take me, I wanna go- run with me!”

My twin daughters and daughter-in-law laughing hysterically as they watched the men AND boys in their lives running through water in mid December at night.

But my earliest memory of that fountain…

My girlfriend Bella hear me say “I love you” for the first time when we met there on Friday nights for our weekly dates where I would “court” the love of my life.

POINTS2PONDER When is a place more than just an address? More than just a physical location? More than just a meeting destination? When it’s the place your family has shared the priceless memories of your lives, from laughter to tears to hugs to smiles, from love to hope.

Making memories—it’s what we do as a family. Sometimes, it’s grandma’s house where everyone meets on Sundays; sometimes, it’s a restaurant where your family celebrates every important milestone; sometimes, it’s a park where all of your birthday parties have been held.

It’s not the “place” that makes the memories, but…it is the “place” that brings them all flooding back at the mention of, or visit to…That Place!

So, call a family member and mention that your family “place” is being torn down or has been painted or has been vandalized and-- see their reaction?

We hold dear that “place” in our hearts because…it holds a dear, special “place” in our hearts!

That Fountain? For my 50th birthday, my wife surprised me there with my whole family. We dined at our favorite restaurant, then we all got into a horse drawn carriage and were treated to a stroll around Celebration, every member of our family in that horse drawn carriage—Priceless!

When the ride was over, they dropped us off at…That Fountain!

Where we ran through the water, laughing hysterically, giddy and goofy, getting unexpectedly drenched and pulling everyone…

Into our Fountain of memories!