I found some old letters recently…
From my father to my mother…
When he was in the army during WWII…
And she was back home in Brooklyn.
The papers were yellowed…
The ink from a fountain pen…
And the stationary had the logo from the USO.
I sat down with the letters on my lap to read them…
Whatever I needed to get done could wait.
An hour or so later…
I got up, filled with a deeper understanding of them…
And of a life far different than mine.
Stationed in England, France then Germany.
Although he wrote telling my mom to not worry…
The undertone was obvious—he might not come home.
Lucky for me and my family he did.
As I gathered and folded their memories…
I got to wondering…
What memories will my daughters find of mine to look through?
What physical evidence will remain of my sentiments?
“Hey sis, look at this flash drive of mom’s.”
“OMG , flash drives. Ha! So outdated.”
“Know what’s on it?”
“Nope.”
“Wonder how we can see what’s on it.”
“Can’t. No one has a physical computer anymore.”
“Is her stuff in the clouds?”
“Dunno.”
“ Yeah, and even if we could find where she stored them…
We don’t know any of her passwords.”
“Sorry mom, may your memories rest in peace somewhere in the clouds.”
Well, that got me thinking about writing and telling stories that endure…
Obviously telling stories in the physical world endures…
Hence cave drawings and hieroglyphics…
And parchment, papyrus and paper.
So if writing and telling stories go the way of electronics…
And the whole world eventually goes paperless...
What format will your loved ones…
Find your memories?
Always, Em-Musing
