“Look over there, over the mountaintops!”

I can almost hear myself saying those words all these years later.

“We have to stop at the overlook on the Parkway and watch the sunset.”

Once the car was in park, I jumped out and went to sit at the picnic table nearby.

“Do you see it?”

The sun’s rays were bouncing off the clouds as the sky changed in front of us.

This was my first time exploring the Parkway. My fiancé and I were making plans to move here, and I remember thinking, I am going to love living in this area.

That sunset became one of my first memory pictures of the place I would soon call home.

Years later, my husband and I were out fishing as the sun went down.

Can you tell this is one of my favorite things to watch?

The colors were indescribable. I just wanted to capture the sky before it disappeared.

Have you ever done that?

These days, I don’t always need to reach for my camera.

I used to think I needed a picture to hold on to a moment. Now I wonder if I was so busy trying to capture it that I sometimes forgot to simply stand there and enjoy it.

These days, I want to feel the moment first.

Follow me with this.

Close your eyes, just for a moment.

Can you see it again in your mind?

The colors. The light. The way it made you feel.

There we go.

We just made a memory picture.

Do you have a sunset like that?

Maybe you were standing on top of a mountain overlooking the city. You may have been walking hand in hand with someone you love, laughing together as the day came to an end.

Or maybe you were sitting in your own backyard watching the sun go down.

Nothing extraordinary had to be happening. Sometimes a few minutes are all it takes for an ordinary evening to become something we carry with us.

Every sunset can be a doorway to a memory.

Some bring happiness. Others may bring sadness. Each one tells its own unique story.

No two sunsets are ever the same.

A sunset can only be enjoyed for a few moments. Almost as soon as we notice it, the colors begin to change.

Then it is gone.

Life can move just as quickly.

One moment we’re watching the sky, and before we know it, our attention has moved on to something else.

Life settles back in.

I don’t want to stop it from doing that.

I just want to remember to slow down long enough to see the world around me before it changes once again.

There will probably be another sunset tomorrow.

But I don’t need to rush toward the next one.

Tonight, I’ll watch this one until it disappears.

Then I’ll close my eyes and watch it one more time.

Not through a camera.

In my memory.

One more sunset.