Monday, October 21, 2013

So clear. Yet so foggy. Part 1.


 The seasons are passing one by one
So gather moments while you may
Collect the dreams you dream today
Remember, will you remember
The times of your life
 

The moments and times of your life. How well do you remember them? 
We all remember certain things very well, while others we don't remember at all. Nobody can remember everything, no matter how good a memory you have. But there are those times when you sort of remember things, and you aren't sure if you have got it right all these years later.
I have a very good memory. Most know that about me. I can remember details and things very clearly from 40 years ago and mostly all the way up to today. My friends are mesmerized by that. 
However, there is one period in my life where things are very muddy. I remember certain details clearly, while others are very foggy. It is the period from the time I moved from Montreal, where I was born and grew up, until I moved to Thornhill, where I have been for most of the rest of my life.
The period in between was about 18 months where I lived in Burlington, Ontario. My memory is that was the spring of 1978 until Labor Day of 1979. I am fairly certain I am in the right ballpark there. Mostly I know that because of a few certain events that I am clear on.
At times, when I try to recall certain events, I am certain that I lived in Burlington for them, but it is possible that I already lived in Thornhill. Mostly, it is muddy because on a daily basis my father and I would travel from Burlington to Thornhill to do work on our new house in Thornhill. So, in the transition, I was in both places at the same time.
Why is it important for me to figure out what happened where, and if it happened here or there? As I try to write some memories, I can remember most of them, but not to a certainty of where I was. It is like a puzzle. I know certain checkpoints, but as I try to piece the puzzle together they don't add up. So, I remember them incorrectly. 
It was a turbulent time in our lives. We left Montreal not under the best circumstances, Burlington was not a place I enjoyed and I was very glad to be out of there, but so much happened when I was there that is significant to the rest of my life. So, I try to reconstruct it all now--after the fact.
So far, I have the pieces. I have the research to confirm where I actually had to be when it happened. But as I said, we were traveling back and forth a lot when it happened.
Tomorrow, I will do a second part, that might lead to more parts where I explore what I remember and where I think it happened, and how the research of the facts either confirm or disprove that I could or could not have been where I remember it. Of course, I will try to figure out why I remember it wrong, if I do.


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