The Power of Memory

I want to thank Gary Metcalf for giving us his recent impressions of Cedar Vale as it struggles for continued existence. It is certainly true that those of us who have not been back recently carry a memory that bears little resemblance to the current reality. We remember a vital little town that was buzzing on Saturday night and doing OK during the week as well. Gary’s list of stores pretty much agrees with mine, with the addition of the Leonard Theater, which was a very important place for me.

Likewise, in my memory, all you gals are still fresh-faced and pretty, without a single wrinkle and the guys are all slim and athletic. We were excited to be growing up together in that town, which was the center of our lives. With all that in mind, I take the liberty of posting again for your reading pleasure a piece I wrote several months ago, called Time Machine.

Time Machine

Do you remember the comic strip Alley Oop from our youth? It is still being drawn today. Dr. Elbert Wonmug had a time machine that brought Alley and all his friends into the 20th century, or 20th century folk back to the stone age. Far fetched you say? Wait a minute friends.

Recently a friend (Wayne Woodruff) and I were blogging (that’s what we do these days) about one Judy Gorton, a friend we both had at the University of Kansas. Then my friend wrote about “little Nadine Foster” and four-year-old Nadine came clearly into my memory just as I remembered her—no bigger than a minute and faster than greased lightning. Judy G. exists in my memory as that 20-year-old beauty, with dewy complexion and a smile that would melt any young man’s heart. Other classmates are just as they were when I last saw them even though they must be in their 60s or even 70s by now. Is that a time machine or what? Our time machine is our memories and that’s why I’ve had so much fun bringing all the past back and enjoying it again. So friends, keep your own the time machine going. Dr. Wonmug has nothing on us!