Scattered Memories

Because it's already Saturday morning and this page is still completely empty, I'm going to do what I did on another blog earlier this week--make a list. On that one, I listed some days in my life. On another one I dug up, I asked other writers what their favorite writing tools were. I've listed favorite books, favorite songs, and favorite movies.

Since memory is such an issue for me--what was your name again?--today I'm listing memories that are still sharp in my mind. They may not be favorites, although some are, and they may not all be good, although most are. This is an experiment. I hope you make a list, too, and I hope you share it.

1. The year North Miami's basketball team went to the semi-state. I'm not one of those for whom high school is the best time of my life, but tournament time in 1968 was. I can still hear the sounds, feel the elation, and see Logansport's full-to-the-brim old Berry Bowl in my mind as our school completely unexpectedly won both the sectional and the regional. Thanks, Warriors.

2. How Dukes Hospital felt when my kids were born. The obstetrics floor or hall--I don't remember which it was--was a place of jubilation and noise and people who cared.

3. November 22, 1963. The day I knew that evil wasn't just a word from the Bible. It was real. It still is, and has become totally shameless with time, but when I was 13 it was a hard lesson.

4. Watching Duane walk down the steps from my apartment the last time I saw him before he went to Vietnam. He didn't look back.

5. Duane and Brad Ferguson playing and singing "Love Hurts" in that same apartment. I'm still waiting for the reprise of that performance. Brad says it's not happening.

6. Nine Eleven.

7. January 6, 2021

8. My first day at the post office in 1981, meeting people I didn't know would still be friends in 2026.

9. Writing the Window Over the Sink for the Peru Tribune, having no idea I'd still be writing it 30-some years later.

10. The blizzard of 1978.

I was kind of surprised by a few of these, not by some others. They all have sharp edges in my mind. Some of the edges are shiny and some are dark, but they've all shaped my life. They've all played a part in the ongoing development of who I am. While I'll never be happy for all of them, I hope that sharpness remains.

Stay safe in the upcoming weather. Be warm. Be nice to somebody.