I Remember the Red Barn, Not Much Else

It's hard to be nostalgic when you can't remember anything. ----Unknown

There's an old saying about those who forget history. I don't remember it, but it's good.
--Stephen Colbert, The Colbert Report, March 10, 2008

On the news the other night was a story about this guy who could remember EVERYTHING. He could tell you what he ate for lunch on a specific day, 40 years ago at the Red Barn. (He also knew what the weather was like, who he was with, and what else he did that day. )
-

It wasn't quite clear what disorder he had, but they showed him on a call in radio show where people would try to "stump" him.

-

To me, forgetfulness is a blessing. Everyone has days they would rather forget. Things that were said that ought to be forgotten. People who enter your life and then pass out of it, usually for a very good reason. Forgetting the past is part of the healing of old wounds, too. I try to remember the good times I had with some people and not all the crap. If I could remember every hurtful word or wrongful act, well, I'd just rather NOT.

-

But then again there are times you would love to remember and cannot. I've kept a journal since I was a teenager. When I go back and read a page here or there it is amazing - it's like reading about the life of a stranger. There are names I would never recognize, let alone recall on my own. And there is always a lot of emotion when you come across something that really meant a lot to you at the time... enough to write it down, and now, all these years later you can re-live that brief moment, feel those same feelings, and maybe even remember just a little bit, like a little journey back in time.