The
Beguiling Charity of Memory
By Oscar S. Cisneros
Brass tends to tarnish, silver turns black over time,
but memory has a way of adding luster to the past. A mother's
meal is always remembered more fondly than the plate on
the table today. One's first kiss is the golden standard
by which all moments of intimacy are judged. And quaint
places are remembered bigger and brighter than they were
in our childhood. So it is that time can make people from
our past seem funnier, sexier, smarter than they ever
were. So it is that we can come to idolize, glorify, obsess
over a person from yesterday. The image we have of the
people in our lives today is tarnished by a thousand misunderstandings,
a handful of fights, and the ordinary work and labor of
keeping a relationship alive. Our memories of people past
are unmired by these daily nicks and dents and scratches.
So it is that a one-time lover can become the best we
ever had, a long ago friend appears the most faithful
and a fleeting crush turns into love like love found only
in fables. Beware this luster on the past, the beguiling
charity of memory, for the people that surround you, though
worn by time's wear, are the ones worth keeping. Cherish
the memory of those in the past but remember the reasons
why you parted.
