The Currency of Connection

It solidifies the ground we will walk on our entire lives. As we learn and grow, we go on to eventually cultivate a relationship with almost everything. We learn to have a relationship with friends and peers, siblings, spouses and our own children. As we age, we come to understand the importance of our relationship with time and rest. We go on to have a relationship with food, a relationship with exercise and healthy habits, and, whether we want to or not, in some capacity, we all will have a relationship with money.

My relationship with money began early, at Westerra Credit Union almost 40 years ago. My mother, a Denver teacher, secured an account for me in my baby years. My earliest memories of banking involve a yearly December trip to meet Santa Claus at the Cherry Creek branch.

I can still conjure up images of holiday merriment, candy canes, long lines of excited children, the stuffed animals Santa handed out and posing for the yearly photo my mother would proudly add to our holiday album. I remember my last trip to see Santa when I was about 11. My preteen self found the custom to be a bit silly by that point, but I catered to my mom’s desire for a photo to add to the album of family memories.

They say hindsight is 20/20. In all honesty, at the end of the day, I’m glad I catered to her. Because 11-year-old me didn’t know my mom would have a massive stroke when I was only 33 years old. And if you know anything about traumatic brain injuries, you know they can irrevocably change the foundation of your life, the relationship between parent and child suddenly tilting in a reversed and strange-feeling direction. It came to be that those albums of holiday photos, especially the ones of my sister and me with Santa, became my mom’s anchor to reality at times. She would eventually lose her ability to walk and her speech, but she still enjoyed sitting side by side with me, flipping through those old photos, which, by this time, are starting to look dated as my childhood moves farther away in my memory.

My relationship with my mom came to an end, ironically, last Christmas Day, and those albums and my childhood memories have taken on a new meaning as I navigate life without a parent. I’m a teacher myself now, and I still bank at Westerra, not just because I’m satisfied and happy as a customer but also because it’s my financial home, my comfort zone. And often, when I visit, especially the Cherry Creek branch, I fondly remember my mother, those Christmases, and her dedication to my childhood and my financial security.

Don’t ever hesitate to capture family memories. They may become the very things that keep us tethered to those we love most and help us stay connected after they’re gone. Support your children and family in building a healthy relationship with money, and if your own could use some love, take the time to nurture it. After all, it’s a lifelong relationship.

About the writer:

Angie is a native of Colorado and has been a Denver resident and teacher, photographer and writer for many years. She is passionate about education, financial literacy and supporting local families. When she isn’t teaching or documenting life in our beautiful state, she enjoys being a vivacious reader, globe-trotting and making memories with her family.