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Memory Miracle



For the past several weeks an old friend has been on my mind.  Mainly as a passing thought .. but this niggling of wonder that kept creeping up.  Mind you, this is a friend I haven't been in contact with for over twenty-five years.  We knew each other for a summer between years of college when I was waiting tables at a resort in upstate NY.

I'd recently reconnected with another former summer employee, Tim, through Facebook and talked about our families and exchanged a note about how life had 'turned out'.  At that time it reminded me so strongly of a mutual friend Ed, and that's likely the reason he kept coming to mind … but the thought was still there days and weeks later.

So on a random Saturday morning, in the middle of bundling up to go out and conquer the arrival of six inches of snow .. I sent him a note.  I wasn't sure he'd even remember me, yet I wanted to reach out to say I'd connected with Tim recently and he came to mind.  To wish him a Merry Christmas and say what a beautiful family he had through FB pictures.

Here's the miracle.

Sometimes in our minds we remember something as significant and yet the further you get from it or with another's perspective you realize it wasn't as significant as you had imagined it.  This is not what happened with Ed.

He sent me a really nice note back recalling details from the summer of 1985 that even I couldn't have recalled that quickly.  What a terrific walk down memory lane we exchanged.  And from that summer of short shorts, memorable concerts and pool time we preserved that memory for each of us.  Sometimes things are exactly as we remember them - poignant and absolutely wonderful.

He wouldn't understand that he was my 'miracle' yesterday…. but I won't tell him.  It will change the landscape in a way I'd have to spend too much time explaining … but it certainly brought some Christmas magic to both our lives.

And it makes me smile recalling that summer ...

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