We spent the weekend visiting family in Long Beach, Mississippi. It was joyful. And thought provoking. We saw our nephew, 15, whom we have not seen since he was half this age and half this size. I was delighted beyond reason when he remembered that I used to make him peanut butter and jelly sandwiches cut into fun shapes. And that made me think about memories in general. There are so many things that I thought I would never forget, that are now lost in the mists of my mind. The feeling I felt at first kisses, falling in love, or the heart wrenching sadness that losses bring, or even the names of certain people who touched my life in a special way... moments gilded in joy or fraught with sorrow... major moments that one would think would be forever, indelibly etched in our minds. And then the other moments, small ones, that are part of the normal warp and woof of daily life. And honestly, I don't remember cutting sandwiches into shapes, but I am so glad that my nephew recalls it!And that makes me wonder, too... the storehouse of memories that we do manage to hold onto, where do they go when we die? Do we take them with us, or are they gone, with a feathery, whooshing sound when the light goes out of our eyes? Are our memories a part of the atoms and amoebas that make up our world, or are they gone, gone in a blink, like birds on the beach?
1 comment:
Memories are left in PB & J sandwiches that nephew will make someday for his little ones and they for theirs. Whether we take our memories with us, I cannot say, some I hope to take some I hope to leave behind.
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