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Fair ~ High: 35°F ~ Low: 17°F Sunday, Feb. 12, 2012 |
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Will You Remember Me?Posted Thursday, March 26, 2009, at 7:46 PM
Poppy's Little Buddy
As I have been thinking about Aden being away, I couldn't help thinking about how strong his memory will be of me. I don't remember a lot about things from back when I was his age. There are some memories that I have retained and can recall about certain things, but I'm not sure how old I was back during those times. Thoughts of Aden interrupted my reading last night, so I put my book down and tried to think back as far as I could, just to see if I could ascertain what my earliest memory could be. That evaluation proved to be a major flop, because I fell asleep. I often wish that you could kick back and enjoy your memories just like you were watching a movie. "Memories...pressed between the pages of my mind..." can't you just hear Elvis singing that? It makes me wonder if some of my pages have been removed. Some people have great memories, like Wiglund, he can remember just about every song ever recorded, who sang it and lots of times he can tell you what was on the flip side. A lot of you younger folks probably won't get the 'flip side' comment so just ask your folks. Then there is Ol' Simmons, he can walk out the door and forget where he was going before he even gets to the car. Years ago, I watched Jerry Lucas, the great Ohio State Buckeye and Cincinnati Royals star, perform some memory tricks, and it just blew me away. All the time he was doing these tricks he was walking through the little dinner theater tapping people on the shoulder and each person had to stand up and read everything on their driver's license. Toward the end of the show, he walked back through the crowd and stopped at each person who had previously read their license information. He would close his eyes and recite verbatim what they had read earlier in the show. There were about a dozen people and he remembered everything exactly for each one of those people. And all that while in between he was doing other memory tricks, it wasn't like he was just sitting up there memorizing everything and doing nothing else. How did he do that? I'll call into some office where they have one of those voice menus and they will go on and on about if you want this press 1 and if you want this press 2 and so on and soon I can't remember what the option was for pressing 1 or 2. I almost always go for the option to speak to a representative. Sometimes that is a mistake too, because they will put me on hold for so long I've forgotten why I called in the first place. I have friends who will tell me what they shot on the golf course, hole by hole, sometimes from several weeks ago and then I can't even remember who was in my foursome yesterday. Of course that is not as bad as some of my friends who can't remember how many strokes they had on the previous hole...oh, I shouldn't have written that...that was mean. "Memories...sweetened thru the ages just like wine..." that Elvis could sure sing a song. I'm not sure that my memories have sweetened or soured or have aged in any particular fashion for that matter. My perceived memory problems have created a great deal of consternation within my mind, which led me to follow some advice I saw on a TV commercial the other day. I went to the pharmacy looking for some 'ginko balboa' that I had seen in an advertisement, only to be told by a nice young lady that I must be looking for 'gingko biloba'. Oh, excuse me, I must have been thinking about the Pacific Ocean variety. So I bought some of the stuff and now I'm exercising my memory banks daily. Maybe one day, I'll nail down my most ancient memory and it will be farther back than last week. Next week, Aden and I will be making some more memories, playing with Thomas the Train and all of Thomas' friends. I sure hope he remembers these days when he gets older and how much his Poppy enjoyed playing with him. And I really hope he still wants to give Poppy a big hug when he gets home. Comments Showing comments in chronological order [Show most recent comments first] |
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POPPY,
I'm sure Aden will feel very safe and secure, and very much loved, in one of your big hugs.
It is the most important thought: What will our children and grand-children think about us. Poppy is, in at least three languages, my favorite name, for a mature man of course.
Ol Simmons, you did see "Splendor in the Grass" didn't you? Pick your part, and I have recently learned some Theatre jargon, "there are no small parts."
I can tell you that Warren Beatty and Natalie Wood were in the movie but it has been so long ago, I could tell you little else. Splendor in the Grass sounds like a good title for a baseball movie or a Dennis Hopper hippie flick.
Ol Simmons, Im sure Aden will remember w/out a doubt. Is it ok if I call you Poppy? It really has that nice ring to it.
After Willie gave me the Ol' Simmons moniker, I realized I didn't care what people called me anymore. I remember telling my Dad one time that I didn't like my first name but I did like Allen, my middle name, and I wanted to be called Al, just Al only. So he started calling me AL Only. I didn't think it was funny at the time, but, seriously, you just couldn't beat his sense of humor. It's a darn shame that Aden never got to know him.
You can call me Al, call me Al...Whom wrote that song? Was it Paul Simon? Anyway, AL it is!!!
That's ok but I'll probably have to call you Betty. Simon wrote and recorded the song and the video with Chevy Chase was super, see for yourself:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lohJ7oDCA...
"If you'll be my bodyguard
I can be your long lost pal
I can call you Betty
And Betty when you call me
You can call me Al
Call me Al"
I never knew Chevy was so tall.
"There's some people that you don't forget
even though you've only seen them one time or two..
In the end, my dear sweet friend,
I'll remember you."
B. Dylan
Yes, I remember that video. Hilarious. You can only call me Betty, when I leave a putt a couple feet short of the hole.
Sometimes I wonder if I'm remembering an actual moment or if I think I remember it because I've seen a picture.
When I think of a place and time in my life, I immediately think of certain photos that I've seen. My mom has an extensive collection of photos of my life (not as extensive as the one she has of Garth), that I have flipped through many times. I can have memories triggered from those photos that I don't think would have ever come to surface without seeing it.
I can, though, actually remember Grandad calling you Al only once during the summer at Aunt Judy's.....I finally get the joke.
I think about the whole picture memory or actual memory thing a lot also. I think it is extraordinary that I can remember being 4 years old. What I have come up with is that the pictures keep the actual memory alive. That is why we take them I guess.
Moral, take a lot of pictures and look at them often, It will help with your overall recall.
On another note, There are many pictures taken that depict a time and I don't remember the occasion at all, but that is a different story.
Grandparents are the best blessing in the world! I was lucky to have mine, even for a short time- no one influenced me more. Aden is lucky to have you!! The time you two spend together will be with him the rest of his life! Good to see you last night Mr. Sims!! I'll never wear a scarf in a convertible again thanks to you!
I really think that photo's do help those memories keep fresh--- helping trigger the recall.
I have one pic my has of my sister's first steps. IT reminds me of the whole event (even though I was not 4 at the time)
I learned everything I know from my grandparents (not really but thats how I remember it now--dad feels slighted LOL)
I told weimgirl the story about Isadora Duncan Saturday evening. You have to be careful what kind of stories you tell people nowadays because they just whip their fancy phones out that can do everything and look it up on the internet. Fortunately I was not spinning a tall tale at the time. Always a pleasure weimgirl.
It's not that Chevy Chase is so tall, he may be tall, but anyone next to Paul Simon would look tall. Paul barely tops 5' 5", and that is when he is wearing thick soled shoes.
Ask Wiglund, he saw Paul and Art Garfunkel in concert back when they were at the top of their game. Paul made Art look tall, yet Art is only of average height (about 5' 10").
Did you know that Paul Simon's Dad was a bandleader? He performed under the name, Lee Sims. Just a bit of trivia for a Tuesday morning.
Getting Aden and Katie Jo at the airport this afternoon. My heart soars like an eagle.
Mamma don't take my Kodachrome away.
Yes, I was aware of "Lee Sims". I've read a couple of books on Art and Paul - who were my favorite folk singers of the '60's, and I've pretty closely followed Paul's solo career since. I have a lot of affinity for his song "Duncan", which fairly well described my live in the early '70's ("I wish I wore a ring so I could hock it", "Like a dog, I was befriended" ). Wiglund's first wife, Angie, was a big fan as well.
"My heart soar like an eagle" makes me think of "Little Big Man" (the actual line by Chief Dan George in that movie was "My son, to see you again makes my heart soar like a hawk") starring one of my favorite actors of the period - Dustin Hoffman.
His list of great films from the '60's and '70s include "The Graduate" (musical score by Simon), "Midnight Cowboy", "Little Big Man", "Straw Dogs" and "Kramer vs. Kramer" (with a young Meryl Streep).
Good stuff to remember. A bit of trivia - the song "Mrs. Robinson" was originally titled "Mrs. Roosevelt" but was changed at the request of director Mike Nichols so it would fit in the movie.
Getting back to the subject of this blog, I do hope your grandson has fond memories of you. Wigs and I have fond memories of our granddad - "Pa" as we called him.
He was Deputy Sherrif Lem Clark, and spent time pursuing moonshiners who would float down the White River under cover of darkness.
Here's a picture of Lem, on the right wearing suspenders: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloomfield,...
Lil' Hahn has always had this problem. Pa is the one on the left.
The photo is on the right, dumbazz.
"Bridge over Troubled Water" was one of the first 45's I bought as a child. I can still remember my older brother's 33 of "Sounds of Silence"...Richard Cory, Leaves that are Green turn to Brown, April Come She Will...great songs. The Only Living Boy in New York, Frank Loyd Wright, Yes I would if I only Could...more great songs. The few posts above this reminded me of Bookends.
.............
One of my friends ( yes, I actually have a few ) sent me these links, and are not necessarily the views of hopeanddust. Sure don't want to upset the apple cart with this stuff, so in the spirit of conversation and debate, enjoy responsibly!
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=...
http://www.gaysagainstobama.org/2009/03/...
.............
Oracle, I enjoyed you on steriods.
I decided the other day one of the songs I want played at my funeral is Lenny Bruce by B. Dylan. Then followed by a constant stream of more uplifting, happy stuff by various other artists, then a finale of "Happy Spreading of Ashes Day to hopenaddust" that everyone can join in and sing. Then food and drink aplenty. I want them to leave with a smile.
i never knew how good a writer you are. i would have thought Steve to be the writer in the family
Thanks, it has taken years of strenuous practice.
Steve's a math genius, way too analytical to be a writer. I'm a firm believer that because of this, he over-analyzes his golf swing. But that's just one person's opinion.
I actually got started with serious writing in the third grade when I stayed in at recess and wrote "I will not throw chalk during class again" about 5000 times (always keeping the small letters below and almost touching the dotted line). I'm currently planning a trilogy of books on similar experiences in grade school, junior high and high school. These books will focus mainly on my worst teachers and a couple of old girlfriends who ratted me out to the Principal.
Kayla and Aden are home. He came running to me off of the B Concourse and it was the best hug an old man could get. He definitely remembered Poppy and all is well with the world right now.
I received a nice card today from one of our readers. I never expected anything like that for what I do, but I'd like to say thanks, it was greatly appreciated.