Reminiscences
Reminiscing - Its value to the individual and society
It's a cold and rainy Sunday afternoon. You are snuggled up on the
settee with two of your grandchildren.
One of them says, “Gran, tell us about when you were little. Were
dinosaurs still walking around?”
You smile to yourself, but you suddenly have a flashback to when you
were five or six - to when you first started school. You have a vision
of chalk floating in the air when your teacher banged the board
cleaner on her hands. You remember what your classroom looked like and
where you sat. You remember the horrible boy who sat behind you and
dipped the end of your plaits into the inkwell!
You share this with your grandchildren, who sit wide-eyed in
fascination, absorbing the flavour of a world they can never know. And
it feels so good!
Sharing our life's experiences with others, reminiscing about the near
and distant past, strengthens our perception of who we are as
individuals and re-affirms that our life has important meaning.
Regardless of how old we are, we all like to talk about ourselves and
to be listened to. However, in today's society, where no-one has time
and families are spread out across the world, it is sometimes
difficult to find someone to share our stories with.
This is a sad situation. There is a sense of opportunity lost, the
opportunity to learn about and understand a time gone by. If these
memories are not passed on to future generations, they will be lost
forever, and the world will be poorer place for it.
We want to do something to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to
reminisce and to ensure that memories are captured for posterity. We
have therefore set up a reminiscence page on our website, especially
for our older community.
You are invited to read and add to these wonderful stories. Your
reminiscences are welcome and should be sent to our editor at PO Box
13783, Witfield, 1467, Gauteng, South Africa or to our e-mail address
at hr@trans50.org.za.
