Memory banks - a deposit and a withdrawal.

A Memory Tree

Each item, each ornament,
each bauble, bangle, a memory
a special moment in our lives
remembered each year in the decorating
the dressing of the tree, under which the presents
will be placed, connections to special times,
milestones in our family
birthdays, firsts and more
family history too, of ornaments
given and gotten from
earlier saints we have known

Raymond A Foss

Dear Diary,

Fond memory brings the light of other days around me

Thomas More

Aries (Mar21-Apr20)

A piece of music, whiff of perfume or magazine article might remind you of times gone by. Don't fight the feeling; revisit a long forgotten territory and savour this trip down memory lane. You might feel uplifted that some experiences from years ago feel like it happened yesterday. Sharing this with others could stir up a few more old memories. This gives you a chance to celebrate how interesting at times, your life has been.

Synchronicity at work again. The above is my horoscope courtesy of Russell Grant.

I went to my daughter’s graduation ceremony recently, she obtained a BA in English and History and I have feelings of great pride at her achievements, not least because she is a mother of three and has been through some difficult times that coincided with her studies, so I am doubly proud of her.

The memory of that occasion will stay with me and will go into my happy memory bank.

Along with that feeling of great joy the degree ceremony took me back to the days before I was a mother. Thirty years in fact in - a past life - when I worked at a university in a (scientific) departmental office as a secretary for a Professor and through the job met many postgraduate students as well as a large number of younger undergraduates. Much groundbreaking research was carried out there and it still is.

These were the days of electric typewriters, IBM Golfballs, anyone remember those? (I am showing my age now but what the heck, I still feel exactly the same). The post-grads were always in and out of the office and we would type anything they wanted. There were lots of symposiums, conferences etc and we were always included in the social activities, they were wonderful times.

I am digressing.

At the weekend I was thinking back to those happy days and something made me Google the name of one of the post-grads; I can honestly say that all the students were extremely nice but this one in particular, who was from Cyprus, was probably the nicest; he always had a big smile and would bring gifts, send cards on our birthdays, that sort of thing. We saw all the students through their studies, typing their long and detailed scientific theses privately in our spare time and we rejoiced with them when they obtained their doctorates.

Anyway, just one click of my mouse on Saturday and to my pleasant surprise I found him and even more exciting I learned that he is now a Professor himself in the same university. I sent him a quick email, I didn’t even think he would remember me but a reply came yesterday to say that he did and (coincidentally again) he is having lunch this week with the lovely woman who used to be in charge of us in the office, he still meets her two or three times a year for lunch and they reminisce together. It was good to hear that they both have the same strong and very fond memories of the old days as I do, he mentioned the camaraderie, the fun and the spirit within the department which was indeed something special. Now the commercial pressures on universities mean that those days will never come again. But we can look back and as he said nostalgia is a wonderful thing.

I started with a quote, here’s another to end with:

The timeless in you is aware of life’s timelessness and knows that yesterday is but today’s memory and tomorrow is today’s dream.

Kahlil Gibran

That’s all for now,
May all your memories be happy ones,
Cait