A Splash of Memory
Supermarket: the kitchen
We wait to purchase mashed potatoes for her dad. He can’t eat solid food any longer. Usually it's apple sauce or pudding. But today is different. It's do-different-Friday. A couple in their 60s waits in front of us—a man and woman. They have the appearance of a very hard life. I see a sternness on their face that I feel now in my own. They have the same haircut—high and tight. Former military? Probably. Every-damned-one here is retired military. This is a city of buried regrets and unspoken secrets. She wears a billowing colorful blouse. It takes me back to an early spring evening in 1996.
We are walking across a busy street with friends who will be with us through our lives. We do not know yet how special they are, but can feel it. He is terse and quiet, typically male. Typically military. She, boisterous and whirling. A stunning beauty. Wearing a colorful billowy dress. Her hair flows freely, neither high nor tight. I can see her elegant stride—a walk with purpose and control—as the evening wind lifts her vibrant dress pressing against a fit, attractive silhouette and flagging and reveling in a night out with friends. We are going to the symphony. Was this yesterday? How can this memory from a lifetime ago smash in so vividly?
Maybe this couple was there night too. As I held the door for my party, it could have been they who thanked me for the kindness of holding it open a moment longer for a stranger. Yes, that is the spark of recognition I see in her eyes. She thinks, Was this that fine young doorman all those decades ago? Before my loss and regret? But our fleeting astral reunion is interrupted by the clerk who hands them a fried chicken order.
She smiles. He nods. They turn and walk away. We buy our small tin of mashed potatoes to nourish an old, dying man.
#essay #travel #memoir #reflections #osxs
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Thank you for coming here and walking through the garden of my mind. No day is as brilliant in its moment as it is gilded in memory. Embrace your experience and relish gorgeous recollection.
Into every life a little light will shine. Thank you for being my luminance in whatever capacity you may. Shine on, you brilliant souls!
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