A Conversation with
Elizabeth
2016
Re: membering
From:
Elizabeth
Sent:
Friday, December 30, 2016 10:01 PM
To:
Larry
Subject: Re: Remembering
It is interesting how you remember particular things I've forgotten and
vice versa. Sometimes, as you've probably experienced, memories
can be jogged back into existence, by someone remembering something, and
then that bringing a memory to the fore in yourself. For example, I now
vaguely seem to remember that Kathleen was a male, despite the name.
When you said "he," I had forgotten that. Still, my memory of you taking
me to get a car and meeting my father seems lost.
To enter long term memory, which is what we're bringing up,
theoretically the memories would have had to be either rehearsed (i.e.
refreshed from time to time), or particularly salient such that they
imprinted.
Yes, what I got mad about specifically with the VW was that before I got
home, or back to your place, you dropped the engine out completely.
So, I totally missed out on seeing or learning or knowing how that was
done. I was very disappointed that you didn't wait until I was
there to see or watch or even help a bit.
About parents, I do remember your father coming over to your house one
day when I was there and he really was angry about something. We
had one of my Beethoven records on your stereo, one of a set. He
accidentally leaned on it and scratched the record. I can't
remember what he was mad about, but I have a clear visual memory of the
scene. I believe that you bought the Beethoven set yourself and
gave me the new copy from your set and took the one he scratched!
One time you took me to your place and you and me and your parents and
maybe some other family sat around a big table and made freezer or
refrigerator strawberry jam.
I seem to remember from when I was on FB that your sister married and is
happily still so, but what about your brother, who you went on a cruise
with. Did he never marry? My sister married and still is,
but I don't know about the relationship. She and her husband
seemed to enjoy being liquored up, so the few times I was around them it
was hard to tell. My brother turned out to be a relationship jerk.
He married a down to earth, very pleasant grounded woman, who could have
provided him with the emotional stability he needed. They had one
child, a girl, but soon thereafter he got involved with a woman, who he
was enormously drawn to, but she was a bit mental, threatening suicide
if he cut off their relationship. He created his wife cruelly in
the process, although when he divorced and moved to Texas with the
woman, he was very generous in alimony and child support. Still,
his daughter, my niece, oddly through FB, got in touch with me a few
years back. She is now in her mid or even late 20's, and said she
has not heard from her father since she was about four!
I think I was always afraid to have a long term permanent relationship
that might end up in failure, like my parents. Of course, not all
of it was failure. There were good times. You know the
pictures you can look at and sometimes you see an old ugle woman and
sometimes a young beautiful one. Thinking about it is like that.
Well, if we talk again, it may be next year!
Elizabeth
Updated: 11-07-2024