On the stuff of memories, and a great day out

I had a great day yesterday. I had a half-day at work (always very pleasing) and then met my sister Julia in Eastbourne for some retail therapy. It was the first chance we have had to talk alone and in person (rather than on the phone) since the start of her relationship troubles at the beginning of the year. She seemed to me to be very bouncy and full of good humour, and we had a most enjoyable, if small, spree......especially as she helped me choose, and then paid for, 2 lovely tops from Evans. Saw Darren Cohen in Eastbourne, and Kim (used to know him from the surgery) but no-one else I know.

We went for lunch in the Townhouse, and sat in the garden. It immediately rekindled a memory of being there with Neil one summer's day, (a few years ago now) when we had one of our spoof conversations. In this one, Neil confessed about an affair.....with a man! We discussed it all just loudly enough for everyone else to hear, and were gratified to see everyone taking a great interest. I hadn't thought about it since, until I walked in there yeterday. strange!!

Later we met in Battle and had a scrumptious meal in SI, and everyone (J&P, Linda and us) was very jolly and seemed very relaxed. 4 bottles of Pinot Grigot must have helped. Neil very busy at the moment and has a long day today, so we said 'No' to Champagne at Linda's and came home. Shame, I like a drop of the old Bubbly.

Lots to do. May drive to Portsmouth.

On Other People's Blogs

I love reading my diary, and often pick a choice moment out from history to read to Neil at bedtime. It's nearly as much fun as reading someone else's diary. I have always enjoyed that enormously, and think it is fascinating to have a glimpse into other people's lives. I enjoy books that are in diary form too. I particularly like the Blog (especially my sister's) as they are so immediate, and often deal in trivia or the minutiae of daily living. I have found that when I keep my diary EVERY day, it is full of these fascinating insights, as well as the more momentous events. Often though, I play catch-up, and realise that the minutiae have been lost in the mists (I mist up pretty quickly) and I can only remember BIG things. It maybe a feature of this Blog-site that it selects random blogs for reading if you wish, and I often do, and pick up on people ranting about politicians, or celebrating a birthday, or just chuntering on like this. GREAT!

On memory and er.......I forget

I remember seeing an episode of Grumpy Old Women recently which had me crying with laughter, as one of the participants described how she forgets the name of things. She wanted her husband to bring something in from the area outside the house, but for some reason could not summon up the word 'Garden' from her memeory. Well, I just fell about!! This happens to me so often, that I began to wonder if it was just me, but then I got news that it was happening all around me. Phew!
Except, that it, with my sister Julia. She has the most astonishing memory, quite clear, quite unforgiving. I was reading her Blog about mice at our family home. If her recollection is right, I was 12 before they disappeared as a result of the newly erected TV mast. Surely, I must have remembered something? Nope, not a mouse dropping in sight. (I DO remember the maggots at the bottom of the dustbin, as these were the days before bin liners, and I have hated dutbins ever since) So how come she remembers all this stuff and I don't? I used to think that it was a result of a lifetime of epilepsy medication and dreadful, mind wrenching seizures, but now I am not so sure. Other people seem to have the same problems. How come I can't remember the mice, but I can remember the feeling of having my socks put on? How can she remember things that I said and did, and I can't? It's a good job she does really.........half the family history would be shrouded in the mists of time if it were not for her clarity of memory. Of course, some things I would rather forget......
One thing I don't forget is my friends and family. I love to keep in touch with my nearest and dearest and over the years I have constantly phoned, written, sent birthday cards, E mails and swapped mobile phone numbers. Mostly this will elicit a response, which may keep going for a while, but eventually it fades out and you wonder if you have been totally forgotten. Take my friend Daphne. If I phone her, she will be delighted to hear from me. She will invite us to dinner at her house in Eastbourne. She will promise to keep in touch, and I won't hear from her again unless I phone and repeat the process. My friends and family are enormously important to me. I think that a love or a friendship is a vibrant, active thing..it has to be nurtured and taken out and played with regularly, or it will just fade away in the corner. So why don't people take more trouble with them? How long does it take to send an e mail or a text? Of course, enough people DO take the trouble to keep in touch, and that's great and keeps me buzzing. We even get regular calls from Greece.
Of course, if we all lived in familyville................