Several years ago, my then husband and I were on the interstate heading out to our weekly Costco run. The roads were packed and traffic was doing that infuriating start-stop thing where we averaged about .87 mph. I took that opportunity to share the information from an article I had read that applied the theory of fluid dynamics to traffic congestion (disclaimer for those new to the site: I am a geek). I was excited about the research, animated. I used the cars around us to demonstrate the ideas in the article. He thought I was bit nuts. From that point forward, every time we were stuck in traffic, he would make a joke about “damn fluid dynamics.” It became part of our shared past.
I am an only child and I have lost contact will all of my childhood friends. My ex was the only person in my peer group that spanned across the decades of my life. I do not miss him, but I do miss the shared past. I now have entire mental storerooms of jokes and remembrances and no one to share them with. I am building a new shared past with my current partner, but, by definition, it takes time to build a history.
But for now, when I am stuck in traffic, I think of fluid dynamics and smile alone.
Yes it’s quite amazing how we experience exactly that……those little things that only he& I knew about. Tovah
I know that feeling very well…..
The little memories are one of the bittersweet aspects of losing someone.
A book I very much like is titled “All My Friends Are Going To Be Strangers” but for the life of me I don’t know if it is about looking backward or forward or both.
As I move through life my old friends become astranged while strangers become my new friends.
Read the ‘article’, the guy gets it alright!
“Stay hopeful that the Crystalline Amoeba poops your car out soon”