I had a wonderful surprise for Christmas; nearly 700 slides I had taken between 1973 and 1983 had been converted, scanned and saved as photo files, then given to me. I have to admit I had completely forgotten they existed, so it was a double surprise–and an interesting test of my memory as I looked through the images.
The first surprise was that I instantly recalled most of the situations and events, although had I been asked about them moments before I wouldn’t have had the haziest idea of whether I had been present at that event. Simply seeing the old, familiar faces restored a sense of calm and peace. 
I was thrilled to be able to cite chapter and verse of who was in the photos, where we were and what the event was. This made me wonder about what happens as we remember things? The images brought back memories and information I didn’t think I still possessed, so where have they been all this time?
I was astonished to find I knew the maiden names of many friends, even though most have been using married names for the past 30 years, and yet, the fresh younger versions of us seemed so much more authentic than the more time-worn versions we are now. 
It was simultaneously both strange and exciting to be temporarily inhabiting my younger life again.
Having had these flashes of memories recalled, I was bothered by the photos of people and events I simply couldn’t recall. Why had my memory lost this information when it had recalled such detail for other things? As I thought about it, the people and things I didn’t recall were slightly less important to me at the time, so I simply didn’t remember them so well now. 
Mostly these were children I taught for just a few weeks and never saw again, but it bothers me that their names are now gone from me forever.
Perhaps more worrying are photos of me in situations I don’t recall, though I seemed to have been enjoying myself at the moment the photo was taken.
Why was an evening walk eating candy floss (cotton candy) with my younger brother and mother something I don’t remember? I can only imagine that it was an enjoyable experience, but apparently not one that had such drama or emotion attached to it that it was memorable 40 years later.
I imagine that the specter of memory loss hunts all of us as we age, so finding that I had memories tucked away that I’d forgotten yet which were so easily uncovered, gives me hope that my mind is still functioning reasonably well. In the light of my discoveries, what pleasant surprises has your memory offered you?
