My grandfather is a man of history, a man with memories. He is a storyteller possessed of endless stories that I have spent hours upon hours listening to; now his memory is slipping away and I wonder what stories i will never hear. Over the years with every visit new tales unfolded of life in Black Diamond and the toughness of my great-grandfather or of the way he lead his crew during World War II. Then there were stories of my mother, my aunts and uncle and in those his deep fondness and love for his family was always so clear. He and my dad taught us how to throw and to hit a ball and we could talk sports for hours and I listened and learned as he would confidently and accurately predict who would win every game. The doctor says there is a chance his memory will come back, but even if it doesn’t I have my own now to hold on to and I will.

I used to visit a man whose short term memory was almost completely gone, but his long term memory never left him. I was a newer person in his life, but I think he lumped all of his pastors into one persona and still managed to associate me with the role whether it was me he was relating to or not. In his mind he was back in his twenties newly married and loving life. It makes me wonder if I get to that point what memories I might live in. We form new memories everyday. We meet people who may just be passing through our life, but who also may change us forever by their presence in it. The question is: what are the moments that are so meaningful they will never be erased? Is there a time in our life we would be happy reliving? in every life there are moments that define us and I would like to think that it’s these that we hold on to. A time, a place, a person, your anam cara, something so special that it becomes a part of you, not so much a memory, but really a part of you that can’t be take away; an anchor that holds you even when all else is slipping away, that’s what we all need. Our memories are the best kind of gift, the kind we make ourselves. They become a story we can both hold onto and pass on and in the end I believe it is the parts that are most true to ourselves which will live on. I remember…