Memories go a long way

How much do you remember on a regular basis? Memories are both fickle and intentional. While I cannot necessarily remember what I did last month, I seem to have a very clear and distinct memory of my first year in Canada. My family and I immigrated to Canada when I was 6 years old. Whereas I wasn’t to bothered about what was happening at that time (again I was 6 :)), I do have lots of memories of events, people and situations.

I remember my first day at an all English school – I should mention I did not speak a single word of English. I remember our apartment and the view of the hills and park. And I also remember my parents fear and hopelessness when the realization hit as to what we actually embarked on. Even though it was a hard time for all of us, we fought through – sometimes with each other – and we persevered to become the people we are today, in the place we are today.

Memories seem to stick to me like a tv show. I remember vividly as it was happening right in front of me. Some of those memories are ones I do not wish to remember. Those memories seem to the most of vivid of them all. And why is that?? To learn from them?  To ensure not to repeat them? Or to live in consequence of them?

I cannot say I have had an easy childhood, or even now as a young adult. But I had tremendous memories as well, ones that make me smile, ones that make me sad (for good reasons), and ones that I am happy to have lived and shared with others. I listen to music pretty much everyday. No matter what country we traveled to, one thing that was familiar and safe in all of those area was the music. And with each song along the journey, I had attached a memory to it. I guess that is where my undying love for the good old oldies comes from – it holds the key to all those memories.

We value our memories, whether we want to or not. And they hold such power for us because of the people they are associated with. I hold strong memories of my mother, my father and sister. For the longest time in my life all we had, was each other. And as time goes on, we let others into our lives and allow them to leave memories of their own.

But people change. People diverge from what you knew them to be, they change their roles in your life, they change their importance and they change their place. And when those people change completely, and you are staring into a face that is unfamiliar, you can close your eyes and reminisce about who that person once was.  You can close your eyes and go look into those memories you had stored of them. Because the fact is that when push comes to shove, memories really do go a long way.

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