Past and present

Have you ever looked at a picture from your last birthday party? You can almost taste the yummy cake and hear everyone singing. That happy memory is a little piece of me. But then, you look up and you’re right here, in your room, listening to this story. This moment, right now, is also a piece of me. It’s a bit tricky, I know. I hold all the giggles from parties that happened long, long ago, and I also hold the quiet hum of the world happening this very second. I am every single yesterday and every single today, all wrapped up into one big, amazing adventure. I am the Past and the Present!

For a very, very long time, people didn't have clocks or calendars to keep track of me. They held me inside their memories. Storytellers would gather everyone around a crackling fire and share tales of brave hunters and great adventures from long ago. That was how the past stayed alive. Then, people found a new way to show what was happening in their present. They would mix colorful dirt with water to make paint and draw pictures on the walls of their caves. They drew exciting pictures of big woolly mammoths they hunted so that their children, and their children’s children, could see what their lives were like. As people started farming, they needed a better way to know when it was time to plant seeds. So, they created calendars by watching the moon and the sun. This helped them understand the seasons. Later, they invented clocks to chop the day into smaller pieces called hours and minutes. A very smart man named Herodotus, who lived in a place called Greece a super long time ago, decided that just telling stories wasn't enough. He wanted to make sure the amazing stories of the past were never, ever forgotten, so he was one of the first people to write them all down in a book.

You visit me all the time, even if you don’t realize it. When you listen to your grandma tell a story about when she was a little girl, you are visiting me, the Past. When you go to a museum and see dinosaur bones or old-fashioned clothes, you are peeking into a different part of my story. Even celebrating a holiday like your birthday is a way to remember your own past and all the fun you’ve had. Knowing all your yesterdays helps you understand the wonderful person you are today, in the present. Every story you hear and every memory you make is a colorful thread in your own special story. And the best part is, your past and your present give you all the tools you need to create an amazing future.