The Complexities of Memory
My daughter shared this video with me today. It is about a man called Clive Wearing who contracted a virus and lost his memory. He can only remember about the last seven seconds of his life. He has no past and cannot comprehend a future, yet he remembers and loves his wife. He has all his faculties and can speak, he appears intelligent and lucid.
It made me think, who and what do we love so much that we would never forget? Who is so ingrained in our souls that the recognition and remembrance of them is as joyous as the first time we have seen them? We are a complicated mix of the inexplicable and sometimes things like this as sad as they are, confirm that we are connected in mysterious ways and love, truly is all that really matters when you reduce it to the most basic emotion that keeps us alive.
Yep, the memories of love is what hold us together. A memory so ingrained in me is one of my father’s hands: one day he was sitting with me, teaching me the complexities of accountancy and I remember so clearly looking at his hands resting on the table and feeling a sense of love and security so strongly that I have never forgotten it. Of all my memories of my father that I hold so dear: his smile, the way his eyes crinkled with joy, the way his hair would fall over his forehead – this I remember more: that his hands looked strong and worn, and I knew I was safe in them. Every time I think of that day, I wish I had listened to my heart and lifted his hand to my lips and thanked him for loving me….
Our regrets are always what we should have said, but were too shy to voice…