Yesterday my husband played in some reunion concert of the orchestra he played in as a boy (he was a drummer, along with my younger brother). My son and I went to watch. The music parts were pretty slow and boring, but the drummers were great.
The reunion concert took place in the village my husband and I both grew up. We both moved there as children (me at 9, he a bit older) and were met with disapproval. At the time if you did not speak the right dialect you were already a foreigner.
Well, I am really glad I no longer live there, as I have a lot of not so happy memories. I met some wonderful people there, which is great, but this wont make me go back. It’s always a little strange to visit the place. It is a beautiful village, with a castle and a lake – a tourists dream. But while it is ok to be confronted with ones past from time to time, I don’t want to linger.
Before we left we had a drink with some of me brothers friends. And that is when I said something along the line of “luckily, the past is past” and got some pretty strong reactions from the others. Isn’t that a positive sentiment? I really prefer my present to my past. To be young again? No, thank you very much. But obviously not everyone feels the same.
The book I am currently reading goes very well with my “the past is in the past” moto: No! I don’t want to join a bookclub : a diary of growing old disgracefully. The 60 year old heroine has such a refreshing take on life (and death). I love that book, and am already worried what I’ll do when I’m finished. No more updates on Marie Sharps life? How can I bear it? Funnily she reminds me a lot of another fictional diary writer: no, not Bridget Jones, but Mia Thermopolis, of the Princess Diaries fame. Even though one of them is 60 and the other 16, in some aspects they are amazingly similar. In a good way, too.
Filed under: me as a reader | Tagged: books, diaries, growing up, Marie Sharp, memories, Mia Thermopolis, past, reunion, Virginia Ironside
