Dad holding me while Mother looks on, circa 1953.
from Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry
“And now, nearing the end, I see that my life is almost entirely memory and very little time…I began to understand that whenever death happened, it happened to me. That is knowledge that takes a long time to wear in. Finally it wears in. Finally I realized and fully accepted that one day I would belong entirely to memory, and it would then not be my memory that I belonged to.”
Following the death of Mother on March 20, 2025 at age 94, I had the pleasure of sitting with my brother Adam to peruse a box of old photos dating back to 1921 and before. With the assistance from our cousin Sharon, we recognized most of our grandparents and great-grandparents, but some folks were unknown to us. We reminisced about our early lives and those around us often with humorous and enlightening stories.
Merry Mount is a marvelous place for us to observe the passing of time and to attempt to bring the past to memory. Human beings are magnificent creatures. Most of us have the ability to engage our senses and observe perpetually. We can view beautiful sunsets, we can smell the roses, we can hear the hermit thrush or the Meditation from Thais, we can feel the hen’s feathers, and we can taste tomato pie. And if we so choose, we can recollect those experiences in our minds. We can surpass time by engaging our memories.
I intend introspection until I am no more, at which time, I will occupy a space in someone's memory.
CPW
Comentarios