April 14, 2021
How is everyone?
I hope you are well and staying safe. Trying to get through 2020 has been a challenge for everyone. I’m hopeful that as we keep moving through 2021, one month at a time, the year will improve.
We (Mike and I) are in the process of putting our house up for sale. So as I anticipate another move, I also take a few more steps toward actually publishing my book, Relative Consequences. It’s really going to happen!
Do you remember this old song? “Memories, in the defects of my brain, lost and faded and forgotten, I sing the same refrain.” You’ve never heard that version? Really? I’m sorry, Ms. Streisand.
The definition of Memory:
- The faculty by which the mind stores and remembers information.
- Something remembered from the past; a recollection.
I’ve never had a great memory. Ask my kids. Therefore, I have to make lists. However, it seems my lists are more refined and detailed than in the past. Those brain farts come with age. One of my father’s sayings when someone was about to ask him a question was “What’s on your feeble mind?” He said it with sarcasm and humor, a silly saying he picked up from his father, I’m guessing. Unfortunately, that sentence hits home just a little bit. The phrase, “Why am I standing in front of the refrigerator?” comes out of my mouth at least once a week. It’s getting scary, folks.
However, recalling memories is good for one’s “feeble mind.” I love looking at old pictures of my family. I can easily pick out most of the familiar faces of aunts, uncles, and cousins. In the past, I relied on my mom to fill in the blanks—people who passed away before my time, the old pics of relatives I never knew. The first picture you see in the upper left corner is an example. I have no idea who those people are.
I find myself getting all teary-eyed when I see pics of my kids when they were little, but that’s what Moms do. For the memories that aren’t too far back and yet blurry, I can usually depend on my daughter, the ace with the photographic memory.
I have to say I have good childhood memories though. Do you have pleasant memories from your youth? Do they bring a smile to your face? On the other hand, do they make you feel stressful or sad? I sincerely hope they give you joy not pain.
Possibly, your memory is a little cloudy where you only remember pieces of the past.
In my soon-to-be-published book entitled, Relative Consequences (RC, for short), the main character, Jessy Tate, has no memory of a specific time in her childhood when she lived in Bonita Springs, Florida—a time which should evoke innocence and wonder, not doubt and uncertainty. She not only wants to know what she can’t remember, but why.
If you couldn’t remember a chunk of time from your past, would you want to know what happened? What you missed? You hear about people who awake from comas with no memory of their life. That must be unbelievably difficult.
In 2007, I experienced a major fall. Walking my good friend’s dog late one night with another friend, I didn’t notice where a stretch of black pavement curved downward into a sewer drain. As a result, I took a misstep, tripped and fell—HARD. I apparently blacked out because all I remember is waking up sitting on the pavement, tasting blood and my friend’s sweet pup licking my face. I ended up with a gash in my forehead, a dislocated and fractured hip, a dislocated shoulder, and a cracked wrist. How could I have bounced from the front of my head to my butt? I’ll never know. My brain blocked out that snippet of time. It’s long gone.
Now, consider someone losing his or her memory for a year or maybe two. It might not only be frustrating, but the stress may cause mental anguish. In RC, due to a horrible event that wiped out her memory, Jessy suffers anxiety and depression. Flashes from the past appear in her nightmares and offer disturbing clues to her dilemma.
Jessy Tate wants to remember—but at what cost? The results might be complicated or even devastating. When she finally discovers what happened during that time, she decides not only to confront who was responsible, but seek justice for someone she once knew. No matter what.
See you next time.
Jody
Jody Herpin 
Sounds intriguing!