I searched franticly for the file (named “Red October” for the month it was written in, err… October I think) I knew was in a folder on my laptop. Only it wasn’t, so maybe I deleted it. Being “one of those” that never empties the Recycling Bin, I thought maybe I’d find my Red October there. But what I found instead was an ambush of memories so quickly erased by the little key that so often emotionally beckoned DEL.
Here lie the remnants, now recollections of relationships and events past cataloged in no seeming particular order. A zip file of the Death Cab for Cutie cd I burned for him, just because. A few of my graduate research papers; some thoughtfully written and others not so much. Photos from happier days with my former best friend – the permanence of our seven year friendship taken for granted. Photos from graduations, trips, going away parties, many-a “girls nights” and even a few boys nights. A love letter and then later a Dear John letter; neither ever reaching the intended reader. And the files that made me linger longest, the photos of us from happier days smiling, holding hands or each other for that matter, doing something somewhere, well, happy.
And so my hunt for the “Red October” ended serendipitously and somewhat unhappily in a memory minefield, but I survived relatively unscathed. Given this blustery stroll down memory lane, happily the little Empty the Recycling Bin button beckons more.
