Foremost among all the ideas floating around in my head that I mentioned last week is the idea telling me I need to write down what memories are still there before I forget them all. While I'm not that old in the overall scheme of things, I will hit seventy in a couple years. Childhood memories seem to be the most pressing since I'm the only one left alive who remembers them.
I've lost a large number of memories already because of medical reasons, and it feels like I lose more every day. Chronicling the ones I still have left will be a daunting task. I've been all over the U.S., and visited many parts of Europe and Asia. Some of those places were experienced through the eyes of a tourist, and some as a young military man.
Will these memories make it into print? I don't know yet. If it would do any good to dispel some of the misconceptions of life back in the fifties and sixties, I would consider it. Unfortunately, most of the young folks I try to talk to don't believe me. Many are convinced baby-boomers are the cause of all their problems. I've even had a few tell me everyone over 65 should be denied medical care so we'll die and no longer be a burden on society. This scares me.
I also know that some of my memories would not be well received by some. Oh well, they are what they are, good or bad. Every one of them have a special meaning for me, and I don't need the approval of others to write them down or share if I want.
I will continue to work on my fantasy stories, but memories will take precedence when they show up.
As always, thanks for reading.
Picture is me, either first or second grade. I don't remember for sure.
Another aspect of memory is remembering it true. I was talking to my sister the other day about something from our childhood back in Iowa. She remembered it differently. Who is wrong? Me or her. I suppose I could stick with my recollection of it, as it is my memory. But, was it really the way I remembered it? That is frustrating.
ReplyDeleteSo, as you say, when the memory hits - jot it down. It couldn't be any worst than the holocaust never to have happened.
I know what you mean. Sometimes I look at an old picture and it triggers a memory, but I have no idea if that memory is accurate. Some of my memory has been so destroyed, I've had me sister send me some old pictures of people I didn't know. When I asked her who they were, she said it's you and me at such and such a place. I don't even recognize myself sometimes. And yeah, it is very frustrating.
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