Da Count
Cats: Da Count|
I know, I know, it’s late. But it’s still Friday.
Memories
“…like the corners of my miiiiiiind….”
I had to do that.
Today I’m counting memories. But I don’t see them as misty, or water-colored. They’re the jewels that still shine, even when the frame of our lives has grown dull, misty, water-colored, gray, or even dark.
I’ve been thinking about that lately, having lost a dear and very treasured friend. I don’t have her. I don’t have her voice, or her thoughts or opinions… but I do have what I remember. I do have the memories of all the fun we’ve shared, of all the wisdom she’s offered, of all I know of her.
(That’s her with her husband.)
Memories are cool that way… because even in the most dire of moments, even in the darkest depths of grief, I’ll remember something she said, or a joke we laughed at together, something silly that was done, or said, or worn… and suddenly I’m smiling…
Then, this last week, I got to see people I knew 20 years ago… and THAT brought back memories I didn’t even know I had.
More smiles, more laughter, more wistful remembrance.
People come and go in our lives. Friends grow apart, move away… We get older, and more involved in our own paths, losing track of the paths of others…
We meet new people who light up our lives and burn deeply into our hearts and minds. We love unreservedly…
And that doesn’t always work out either… but oh, the memories. So many beautiful, precious, important memories.
The first sight of a face that becomes etched in the mind for all time…
The ghost of a touch, a whisper…
The smell of cologne…
The echo of laughter…
A favorite pet…
The first time you hold a baby in your arms, so tiny, precious and fragile…
The gaze of adoration from a loved one…
A remembered holiday tradition…
(Ok, who didn’t do that with the olives at a holiday gathering?)
The vista you saw as you gazed across the horizon from your childhood home…
The profile of a sleeping child…
Awards won, endeavors accomplished, victories gained…
A memory is enough to change your body chemistry… it can evoke feelings of desire, longing, love, lust, sorrow, anger, regret… and oddly, I find that time does not diminish the effects of some of these.
Memories, links to our past selves, signposts that help mark the paths we’ve taken to be who we are today.
Photos can fade, mementos can be lost, people taken from us… but always, we have memories. I pray fervently I never lose mine.
Today I count memories, because sometimes… they’re all we have left of those grand moments in life.
