She was on the phone, saying "the only time I met him during my adult life was at the wedding, no, I mean, the funeral of …" A.W.A. [as we age], important and meaningful events tend to pile up. After a while, the pile is quite big and each item in the pile is truly large and momentous. Coming into this human world or leaving it get to seem very similar. The main noted event between stage entrance and stage exit is often marriage.
Of course, there are many other contenders for notice: graduation of various kinds and levels, job loss, job gain, house purchase, major relocation, adoption, divorce, major illness or hospitalization. Eckhart Tolle says that when we write a person's dates, like "Leonhard Euler (1707-1783)", that little dash between the birth year and the death year covers a great many momentous events in that person's life. As we think about memory, we realize that we can recall some of the big moments but not completely. It is always a surprise to me when I am prompted to recall something that I haven't thought about for decades and suddenly remember not only the event but its impact, its holiness or level of dreadfulness.
That time you helped me at the very moment I most needed it lifted me, strengthened me, gave me energy and zest. Even if I didn't remember it until I saw that picture or heard that comment doesn't mean at all that you weren't wonderful. You were and I thank you, even if I only just now recall what you were and did for me.
--
Bill
Main blog: Fear, Fun and Filoz
Main web site: Kirbyvariety
