Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot.....


I started writing this post in my head when I did my Christmas cards late in November.

Many of you more technologically astute individuals have your addresses in your computers or in your cell phones.

Alas, that is not my forte, and besides, I have a sentimental attachment to my address book.




I bought it in 1986 at The Old Country Market in Coombs, Vancouver Island.  Someday, I must have goats on my roof too - must mention that to Barry...




It has been well-worn and similar to my family pictures, is the historical archive of the last 28 years of my life.



As with all of our lives, our address books are living, breathing, evolving representations of ourselves.

Up above you can see that someone recommended The Baby Book by Dr, William Sears to me when I was pregnant with my son and I dutifully wrote the title down.  I bought the book and Barry and I and Dr. Sears attachment parented him, and the results seem okay!  My daughter was cared for by us and Penelope Leach and she seems quite okay, too.

Every page has something scratched off or changed

...someone has moved

...someone has died

...someone has divorced and now there are suddenly 3 or 4 addresses

---I'm not close with that someone any more

---someone is a new friend


Sometimes it takes me a moment to remember who someone is.  Why do I still have the name and phone number, not crossed off, of a friendly fellow I worked with in 1986 at an Alzheimer's Day Care Clinic in Regina, Saskatchewan?  Surely J cannot even be in the same shabby apartment he was in all those years ago, and if he is, what would I think of that?

There are all of our addresses: the basement apartment in Regina, the rented house on Vancouver Island, the apartment above the old bakery, the professor's house, the small apartment with the leaded glass windows, the apartment where we put in our first garden, our first house where the kids first lived, our present house... They are all there.

The greatest number of addresses belongs to my brother-in-law, I won't share who has had the greatest number of partners!

There are the meticulous directions to the Motel 6 in New Haven Connecticut that was so sketchy that after we checked in with our young kids we decided we did not feel safe and even the desk clerk agreed and sent us on our way with a full refund!

There are no Qs.  I need a Q friend!  Queen Elizabeth?



There are many people I've lost track of.  I wonder where they are now and I hope they are happy.

This year New Year's Eve I toast my friends, hither and yon:

  • those I see weekly
  • those I haven't seen in 28 years
  • those friends who have passed on, still with me in my heart every day
  • those I am no longer friends with - people grow apart and change, but there will always be room in my heart for them
  • those who are new gifts in my life - you all here for example and I would include Miss Rewired, whom I have been friends with for a long time, but have only gotten to be really good friends with this past year
  • those I used to work with who made the days pass happily even when there were stresses
When I look at my address book, the one I share here or the electronic one I have on my email account, I feel the blessing of moving through life and meeting people along the way.

Yes, there is a certain sadness about the changes in the book.  It seems like just yesterday I was newly married and buying this address book.

Now I am about to turn 51, feel like I'm 14, and have turned a new corner in my life and will continue to add to the book as I go along.

So as you go about your festivities tonight (ours will be just Barry, daughter and I), take a moment to think about your address books, will you?

And be glad for them, even if they are thinner now than they once were. 

And if you need an address to to add, well just add mine - sydforry@hotmail.com.

There's a reason we all love Robbie Burns so much on this day of reflection:

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind ?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and auld lang syne?
CHORUS:
For auld lang syne, my jo,
for auld lang syne,
we’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

Tomorrow a new year will dawn.  May 2014 bring you joy and happiness and most all, may it bring you peace and contentment.
 
 
     Much love!  Stay safe out there!

******
oh and PS - if you missed yesterday, you can read my published article here!  Yippee! 

37 comments:

  1. Wendy, that is wonderful work! I've just had MLane read it as well; I think it holds a special message for him! You are on your way.

    I have a "book", too, but I tend to cull the old pages. This is a good time of year to recall our past pages.

    Happy New Year and yes, you are in my book. I don't miss my beeper, either.

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    1. Hmm - will be interested in the special message for him!! I am incapable of culling the old pages so guess I must celebrate them! Happy New Year!

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  2. What an amazing book, so much of your life lies within its folds.
    I'm the opposite, I used to always buy a new book or page inserts every year, I could never bear to see old names, addresses etc or anything obsolete from the past, I'm one of those folk who are always clearing out, whether it be cupboards, drawers, books clothes.
    Auld lang syne is an awful weepiest, when I was growing up all the adults would start to cry, now I understand why.

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    1. Tabs I'm the same I love fresh page inserts, I need to get to LV in Toronto to buy 2014 for my agenda!!
      Would they cry? That must been upsetting as a kid. I think your parents had been through so much.

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    2. Dani, I think lots of people cry at Auld Lang Syne - I certainly do, it's really makes you think about the year or years gone by.

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    3. Maybe I'll cry if we sing it tonight too, everything is making me weepy these days!

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    4. Well think of Tabs' parents and you will have a go! I love that song and I think the Scots are a sentimental lot.....

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  3. Wendy, I absolutely loved your article! I tweeted and pinned it as well. Here is o many more published works from you in 2014!!

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  4. Wendy beautiful post and I think it's pretty great that you have the same address book. The passing of the years: it's all in there!

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    1. Barry got all misty reading this as it is his life too!!!! Good luck tonight!

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  5. Such a lovely book of memories! Happy happy new year!

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  6. Hi Wendy, I can relate, except that I do have a series of address books. My very first was a tiny little thing, so of course I had to move on from that. We are not the only ones who have moved a lot - most of our friends and family have had two or many more addresses. Like Tabs though, I do like to get a new book now and again, mainly so that it's all clean and fresh - but it's interesting looking through the old ones.

    Tonight my son will have his friends in the basement and I guess we will be upstairs watching Anderson and Kathy. Happy 2014!

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    1. Our son is off with friends so only three of us but I love me some Anderson and Kathy too as you know - she cracks me up!

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  7. Wendy, I just read the Globe and Mail article -- it was wonderful. And not to be all scheming, but I imagine it may also be a helpful anchor in moving along toward a bigger audience and the next step. I hope 2014 is an awesome, awesome year for you, but you know what? I have the sneaking suspicion that you will ensure it is no matter what. Best wishes from Germany, stay safe out there in Canada :)

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    1. That Mich! I am believing that 2014 is going to be great! Looking forward to the day that my books are on your and my bookshelf on GoodReads! Happy New Year! Kiss those girls!

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  8. What a lovely post. It's a bit sad that we don't keep records like a paper address book anymore. We can delete all traces of the past with the stroke of a key or click of a mouse. Of course anything out on the interweb is destined to linger somewhere forever.

    I wish you a wonderful 2014 with much success and happiness, however you define it. Happy New Year Wendy!

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    1. Thanks xoxo - I agree - we will need to start oral histories, won't we? Happy New Year and look forward to xoxo's little xoxos...

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  9. Love your pic of the sunrise...so appropriate given today/tomorrow's symbolism. Similar to your address book, I keep calendars, but only for 3 or 4 years. It starts out as, "oh, I'll keep this for a bit just to make sure I have everything copied over," and then I find it again a few months later, and before I know it I have a little stack and for some reason I get all sentimental about recycling the paper record of my family's life. It's funny to look back on what we were doing in the past. I suppose that's antiquated in these days of online calendars and such, but I like to see it on paper. Hope you enjoy your New Years celebrations, Wendy!

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    1. WA Shopper! I am so nostalgic that I can totally relate!!!!

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  10. Happy New Years Eve! I am actually resting...the thought of the festivities wears me out. I am ready for quiet. I still have old love letters from Hunter from high school and college. I am a purger, old and worn out it goes. Several years ago I resolved to get in touch with some ladies that I remembered fondly from my youth (best friend in elementary, high school, college). Remember, army brat so no life Long friends. Even with married names, with the internet it was not difficult to find them.

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    1. Oh good for you! I am slow moving this morning, but am moving! Am going to take down a few decorations, which will move me in the direction of clean...

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  11. i love this wendy. i too have my old trusty address book. thank you for sharing so much with us here this past year. you are an incredible writer and i wish you much success! xo

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    1. Thanks Janet - glad I am not the only one with the flotsam and jetsom trailing me!!!! Happy New Year!

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  12. I always get kinda sad when I go through the Christmas card routine. Marking those no longer with us off the list. I also marvel at those who have so many entries marked through due to moves. Glad it's them not me. I'll be here until they haul me out! Happy New Year and hope to be able to read lots more published works!

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  13. I still keep a paper address book too and I always feel a little sad when I have to make changes to it, when friends move away or move on. I think it is safe to say that it has been an amazing year for you - thanks for taking us along for the ride! Here's to new adventures and much happiness in the New Year!! :-)

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    1. Thanks Louise! An amazing year for you as well!!!! Loved your new article!

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  14. Happy New Year, Wendy! This post brought a tear to my eye. :) May 2014 be a creative and productive year for you!

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  15. Wendy, I LOVE your article. You're an amazing writer. One word that really resonated with me, and that I can't get out of my head, is "choice." I love it. Congrats!!!!!

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    1. Rynetta - I think it is so important! I am the architect of my life and no one else is nor am I in any position to judge anyone else's choice - I like it that everyone is on their own journey too! Happy new year sweetie!

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  16. Beautiful essay in The Globe. Happy New Year!

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  17. Just found your blog. Isn't it funny how our address books reveal our lives like a long-term diary? I just wrote a post a few weeks back about going through my mom's old cookbooks and they are much the same. Loved this. Look forward to reading more. happy New Year!
    Kim

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Kindness is a virtue...