Saturday, May 17, 2008

I Remember

What we remember from childhood we remember forever .... ~ Cynthia Ozick

Why is that? Why is it easier for me to remember what happened when I was 12 than what happened last week? For the past few years I have found myself drifting back to memories of my youth, often with vivid clarity. Is that a normal thing? Does it have anything to do with getting old?

Is it true that we tend to remember the good things in our past and forget the bad? I know that's the case with me. It's not that I have forgotten the painful things in my past, it's just that it's easier to retrieve the good.

One of the things I fear the most in my pilgrimage and as this body ages is the loss of my memory. I have a deathly fear of Alzheimer's. How frightening and frustrating it must be to not be able to remember the past. I am so thankful that I live in a post-photographic age. How did our ancestors conjure up accurate images of their past?

Music is something that triggers memories of my youth. I was out on a bike ride a few weeks ago with my iPod. My favorite play list was on: songs from 1967-69. In those summer years I was 10, 11 and 12 years old. Probably one of the best times of my life. The music was great. Friends were close and girls weren't threatening yet. I remember:
  • Little League baseball
  • 4th street pool, white's road pool
  • the Strunks (JP, Julie, Suzy, Mary), Kathy Folkes, Debbie Guilliano
  • Ed, Bob, Vince, Tim Landers
  • bike rides to Knapp school
  • the annual Y fair
  • my cousins
  • staying up late waiting for Mom to come home (she worked 2nd shift)
  • crossing the Delaware
  • walking Mainstreet

If those 3 years were the best, the next 3 would be the worst. Music pulled me through all 6.

This one's from 1969.



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