Not forgotten...not remembered.... Memories !!!

The other day was my parents wedding anniversary, and as the typical custom goes in my house, we don’t party. The three of us end up going to a fancy restaurant and having dinner (Booooring !!!!). Mom and Dad were reliving some of their memories of trips they’ve gone on, while I was brought along.

They spoke of the wonderful trips to Germany where they saw the black forest, vineyards of France, the Grand Canyon and Disney World in the US, etc. And I told them that some friends of mine who had gone to the US in pursuit of higher studies had been to many of these places. I was green with envy.

My father was quick to retort saying,” You too have been to these places, why fret?” While that is the truth, the fact remains that I saw most of the world when I was in the age group of 5-8 years and barely remember any of the great experiences I’ve had. While most of my memory remains frozen in photographs, I can remember only a small percentage of those great memories.

The reason I am green is that my friends are going now. At a time when they are young, can do what they want, the right age to remember what they’ve done, look back in content and say, “Hey, I was there !” while I may have to remain content with memories that lay in pictures. It may seem kind of stupid that one may feel insecure that they may never get a chance to really do any of this at the right age. But that has never been the case with yours truly, life has always been kind a little too late in the day. I always feel insecure that by the time I may get a chance to afford to go and see the world on my own, I may be too old to really enjoy it. For example, it would make no sense stepping into Vegas and blowing up money when you have a wife and kid back home who depend on you, or you can’t go bungee jumping off a bridge in New Zealand when you’re 50+. Forget scaling the pyramids of Egypt when you’re suffering from arthritis. Not everyone can be Nicholson and Freeman. (Refer “The Bucket List”)

It’s alas a sad province of man that he can’t choose the time of triumph (experience in this case). I just hope I get rich enough in the next 4 years to go around and see the world on my feet, through my eyes and not struggle with buried memories triggered by a faded photograph. They may be there, somewhere in the dark corners of my mind, but what's the fun if you can't recollect them.