Friends, Memories, Connections, Places

    Last night, celebrating the New Year (2024) before the actual Sunday of the last day of the year, I spoke with some people and learned about connections. It brought back some memories and some new knowledge.

    Memoria.

    That is the title of a song by Nirvana, which they repeat, albeit mispronounced, throughout the song.

    Like many Nirvana or other rock songs, it is hard to know or understand all the words. But the point of the song is understood by me to be about memories, remembering.

    I met a lady who had lived in the same region of Chile as I did, in 1994 and 1995. I was there in 1994, and asked about a couple people that she might have known. I recalled the names of some neighborhoods and streets in places that she lived. She could not remember them. 

    That's okay. I went back to my original places, twice, years later, and I could learn and re-learn the places and names over the years. I bought maps, and sometimes referred to my notes. But I care about names and places and geographies and histories and relationships over time.

    Memorias.

    Kurt Cobain could not last past age 27 to enjoy more of his own. 

    I am blessed to be into my fifties and enjoying so much.

    Talked to a lady who served in Spain, Madrid, who was in the Provo Training Center six months after me. A man who went to Nagoya, Japan, who was in the MTC with me the Christmas of 1989.

    Remembering my buddy Paul, from Mesa, Arizona, who teared up while the family sang at the gym stage during the Christmas holiday, while preparing to be missionaries in Chile. Paul's mom was from Chile. He went to the city of her birth, more or less.

    Learned yesterday my friend Paul from Indiana (we were friends in Indiana) lost his two-year old son last March. 2023 was a tough month for some. We lost our friend Max, too.

    We connected, and in some cases disconnected, and the year has marched by.

    Some of us did not make it, like the victims in the Negev, and the Gazans as a result, some more deadly raids in the West Bank, and some tragedies world-wide.

    Like Ukraine. 

    Some tough spots of the Middle East, and Africa, and a bit of Asia... 

    But many good things are happening.

    Our kids are healthy, as are many of our nieces and nephews, and grand-nieces and nephews.

    And that is that. For now.