Mingled memories

Just some thoughts…

Hi Everyone,

This past week I was at a cozy birthday party. And although the group was small, it split organically into women and men.

In my group the first main subject was retirement homes, a common topic in my generation because most of us are confronted with parents unable to look out for themselves anymore. For me it is history. I was thirty when I had a parent in a nursing home. Not anything I still have the urge to talk about, or worse, being reminded of  …

While taking an envious glance at the male group – whose laughter was overtaking the background music –  my thoughts were uncontrollably turning into a dark corner of my future. How would I survive in a nursing home? Would my memories be enough to get through a day? Though it would be as if you do not live in real time anymore but only in the past. Would I be able to retain only the happy memories? How do memories get filtered? It must have something to do with what has the most impact. You do not remember trivial things. If positive memories stick better than the negative ones, it certainly means that life has been good to you. But I believe it also relates to one’s character. Optimistic people will tend more to the positive side of life and to happy memories also. What is your opinion? I tend to think of myself as an optimistic creature 😉 Luckily.

My most hopeful vision of myself in my eighties or nineties – if I get that far 😉 – is sitting in a rocking chair in the evening sun, reading a good book – if my sight lets me – or chuckling over sweet and funny memories. Preferably in an “out of Africa” scenery, maybe Tanzania?

What is your hope?

The subject changed over the evening. Into grandchildren. Help! Although it is a more positive topic, I don’t want to think about that yet either!

Make good memories this weekend!

Sophia