Memory Fleets Away

Time passes rapidly

The photo of a meal, taken a decade ago, now. I remember it well. The restaurant, should you ever be in Fairborn, Ohio, is Yung’s Cafe, and I hope they are still there. They were as of four years ago when we moved away… But with the photo, I have the memory clear and strong of what we ate that day. I don’t remember the conversation, I remember the food as I have a touchstone for that.

Ten years. It’s a long, long time in a lifespan, and yet, I can almost reach back and touch it, as short as it seems in memory. I hadn’t yet graduated from college, although I would not long after this - in terms of now-to-then. In terms of then-to-now I still had three semesters and a summer to get through. I had no idea what would come after that, but school at least was fairly rote and set in stone to get to the end of it. Then, at the age of forty, I would be starting out fresh into… well, now I know what was coming. I have no real regrets. There are things which I would not have endured, but now as then I do not see another path that could have been taken.

Recently we reached a milestone, and passed it with a quiet excitement and celebration. Sitting there, at that table, we knew it would come but were not focused on it then. This year, paying off the last of the student loans I was still taking on a decade ago? Felt like progress, and freedom. My degree proved it’s worth and paid itself off. Now, we can set other goals, and having reached this one, we can go forward with confidence into the next decade of life, knowing we did it once. We can do it again.

Ten years of life together, and love has only grown stronger. Ten years of buying two houses, moving three (no, four! I almost forgot the apartment for a year!) times. It’s been overwhelming and chaotic at times. He was able to retire. I am able to support us wholly. The children have moved out and into adulthood, much as we doubted, ten years ago.

Ten years. A decade. An epoch in a lifespan.

I remember them. How could I forget?