Like tears in rain

My Great Aunt has a memory disorder at age 93. She is the last living link to my grandmother, her sister, who died too soon in 1968. It is too late to ask either one anything. Who knows what secrets are lost forever… like the coal smoke up the chimney of their old house.

One of our physicians is still going strong at about 80 years old. He holds his own in both the art and science of medicine. He is a “lead dog” and patients feel the calm reassurance he exudes. I could listen to him for hours recount his experiences as 19 year old medical corpsman at Iwo Jima. He is a treasure trove of medical practice knowledge from each decade from the nineteen-forties to the 21st century. I hope some one is writing it down.

Reviled by some during his lifetime, Daniel Boone became a folk hero after death according to one biographer. He was barely literate so much was lost when he died in Missouri. When Kentucky succeeded in rescuing his bones for re-interment a plaster cast was made of his skull. Phrenology was a pseudo-science practiced in the 19th century. They hoped to reveal his personality by studying the bumps on his head.

As the hourglass runs out on life it seems something inorganic takes its place. As each generation closes rank on the other side…a little bit of humanity dies, too. A video or audio archive of our seniors would be priceless.

After the climactic fight between the characters played by Harrison Ford and Rutger Hauer in Blade Runner (1982), Roy Batty laments,“I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. … All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain”. -James

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