She tried to hold on as tightly as possible, but her memories seemed to wax and wane as the more recent ones slipped away more quickly.
“That’s my Mama,” she said excitedly as she looked at an old sepia toned photo of a bride wearing a beautiful bridal wreath of Geraldton wax flowers atop long flowing hair. No one pointed out that the woman in the photo was her great grandmother taken before she immigrated from Australia, nor that the pretty flowers are now a highly invasive weed in that area.
“They used to do that, you know,” she said, when she saw a photo of another woman, who really was her Mama. “I saw her do it; she put beeswax right there,” she said as she pointed to a smallpox scar on the face of the woman.
Some of her memories sealed tightly in her mind, while others shrank around the edges with time, like the paraffin wax on an old jar of jelly.
It is amazing how detailed some memories are and how others have become forgotten even in those without memory issues. I like how you brought this out in photos of her mother and great-grandmother.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Frank. I agree about the amount of detail that is remembered for brief moments and just a quickly slips away. The process can go on for some time until it is no longer available for recall.
DeleteThere are memories that are so clear and memories that differ from others' accounts of them ... mine are stronger in family things...the siblings call me for details.
ReplyDeleteIsn't that the truth, about how siblings or other family members' recollections of the same event often differ. It sounds like you are the "go to" person or perhaps the family historian. Every family needs at least one historian, but the more, the merrier.
Deleteyow!*
ReplyDeleteThat last line... perfect.
* a compliment of the highest order
Glad you liked that last line, Clark. I wasn't sure how many would even know about the jars of jelly sealed with paraffin wax.
DeleteOne of the more cruel and heartbreaking conditions - memory loss. What perfect bookends your first and last sentences make.
ReplyDeleteYes, it is very heartbreaking to all concerned. Those difficult chapters in the lives of loved ones are hard to forget.
DeleteThis left me hushed...so exquisitely beautiful.
ReplyDeleteHave you ever noticed that two siblings can share a memory of something they were both a witness to and each memory will be so different? I know this has nothing to do with your touching six, but it is something I find is now missing with my late sister. We would compare memories and it amazed me how they would differ.
ReplyDeleteGreat use of the prompt! And I'm glad to see someone refer to the paraffin on top of a jar of jelly. That always fascinated me as a child!
ReplyDelete