Margie, the Queen, and Memory

Margie has been feeling dizzy lately and finds she can no longer bend over to pick things up off the floor or the ground. That doesn’t stop her from charging around her neighborhood with the walker, and her hands are as expressive as ever.

“I’ve known for some years that the Queen of England and I are the same age. I don’t think we have anything else in common,” Margie laughs, “but when she’s unwell, I always have thoughts of my own mortality. Which of us will go first, I wonder. At this age, waking up in the morning comes as a surprise.”

Our main subject today was memory. Margie says she has no short-term memory left, but she’s surprised how much detail she recalls from sixty or so years ago. “Alex left me, which was the kindest thing he ever did for me because that’s when my life really began. Sixty years ago, Lucy was three, the boys were both in elementary school, and I took my first college course, Geography. I have always loved Geography, learning about other cultures and places. I put Lucy in pre-school for an hour a day. The pre-school was connected with the college, and I still remember it so clearly. I remember it smelled like crayons and glue, and I paid $63 a semester for Lucy to be there for an hour a day. I remember that $63, but I can’t tell you what this cup of coffee cost half an hour ago.” 

I told her I'm reading Nathalie Sarraute's memoir in English translation. Written when she was in her 80s, it only covers the first 12 years of her life--the memory of those first years so vivid to her, so clear.

Extra: Colorful plant spotted on my walk to meet Margie. No idea what it is. Thanks to you lot for identifying it as cotoneaster, probably "horizontalis."