Nostalgia and other thoughts
Memories are funny things; how they come and go at the whim of some force seemingly beyond the self.
Last night Bri was down in the valley getting some work done on the car. The girls and I took a late evening walk then I read them a chapter out of a new book; we started reading the Canadian Girl Series and they are really enjoying it. And I sat and wondered what I would do with the evening...
I found "You've Got Mail" on television and decided to watch that although I know I have seen before, probably more than once before. I made popcorn, a big cup of Earl Grey Tea and settled in. The popcorn reminds me of staying with my mom and sharing a late night bag of popcorn when we both know we should be in bed.
Earl Grey tea reminds me of the mom of a friend of mine...A's mom died a few years back and yet I have an enduring memory of her. I had popped in for a visit one day...I don't even think that A was living at home at the time. She asked me to stay for tea and so I stayed. We drank Earl Grey...with twice the number of bags for extra flavour. We visited and chatted and sipped tea. Another friend of mine says tea needs ceremony. I think that day I enjoyed the ceremony of tea in a way that I hadn't known. You see, I think that I finally met the woman who had always been A's mom...she was well-read, with a breadth of knowledge wider than most...she had roots on the East Coast and interests in village development in the third world ...I think that she felt her daughters were destined for the extraordinary...the extraordinary that she longed to partake of. Even now, I am sad that I can't share a cup of tea with her. I am sure she would have loved to hear stories of India and look through all my pictures. And I know when I sit with A, we will pick up where we left off even with the passage of years between us. A got married. I couldn't go. But I am looking forward to seeing her in the coming year and bringing a bit of India to share with her.
Unbidden memories flood in... I don't know how to hold them all, but I think telling my stories helps.
posted by marla @ 9:31 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
Funny thing about nostalgia... it always seems to be about things that are truly impossible to recreate. Oh, and telling your stories certainly does help, especially when there are those of us who don't mind hearing them!
Hey Mar,
Have you ever read C.S.Lewis' Space Trilogy? He makes an interesting comment on memory in the first book, "Out of the Silent Planet". He suggests that our memories can actually be apart of the whole process of an experience, that an experience begins when we start anticipating it, and continues afterwards through our memories of it. Through our memories we can continue to be enriched by and grow from things that we experience.
Just an interesting, and profound concept that I don't think "we" (I use that loosely -- maybe it applies mostly to Westerners) don't really grasp. When I read it I found it quite a freeing concept; freeing from the desire we often have to relive events that have happened, instead of simply appreciating what has already happened and living in expectation of what else is in store for us. (Now I am afraid I sound like I'm being preachy, but in no way is this directed towards you, it's just my rambling thoughts now, maybe I should get my own blog and not ramble on here . . .)
Anyways, I appreciate reading what you write on your blog Marla.
Love you,
Heather
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