Fragments of Memories

The older we get, the more memories we have; the more life is already behind us...

There was a time — in the late 1990s — when my first marriage had all but broken apart but I would still regularly ”commute” between Austin, Texas where my business was headquartered and Portland, Oregon where my soon-to-be-ex was now living and working.

Can’t say exactly why we continued this strange charade of continuing a relationship that had functionally ended several years earlier… but we did.

Sometimes humans are hard to understand.

I spent a lot of time in airports, during those years. Because finances were an issue, I spent a lot of time in airports during ”off hours,” as I became a specialist in walk-on “redeye” flights… Portland to Las Vegas to Austin, departing Portland around midnight local time and arriving in Austin around 6:30am, local time.

I flew that route so often that I actually got to know some of the flight crews...

I remember this young kid once… he was maybe 17… who was trying to get home from Portland to Vancouver, BC. He’d missed his flight and couldn’t afford the upgrade fee to catch the last departure of the day with a different carrier. He was visibly upset...

I bought him his ticket home because… well, because spending the night in an airport kind of sucks, even when you’re 17, and he’d have to wait till 10:30pm the next day.

McCarran International Airport (since renamed Harry Reid) in Las Vegas is a surreal scene, even at 3:00am… a bit like the city, itself.

It never sleeps.

People gambling at the airport, and the only airport I can think of where you can buy margaritas at Taco Bell. People mill about. Many are crashed out, drunk; high; asleep; broke from a week of losing their life’s savings, in hopes of making that big score.

The house always wins.

I’m not a gambler. I did enjoy an occasional margarita, though… helped me sleep on the flight from Las Vegas to Austin.

I felt both relieved and sad, each time I got back to Austin. When you find yourself in the middle of major life changes — even if they are ultimately for the good of all involved — it’s typically a bittersweet experience.

Why are you so sad?

Actually, I’m not really. I just see the tragedies and pain of existence quite readily. You could argue that my rose colored glasses broke, a long time ago.

Life is actually full of both beauty and suffering, living side by side. If there is a ”sadness” present, it is perhaps more the result of the transience of it all. Roses bloom and give us great joy, but they also wither and die.

That is simply the cycle of our existence.

I have gratitude for both sides of the coin.

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great rest of your week!

How about you? Do you have any memory fragments from certain periods of your life? Were they turbulent times of change? What sticks out, in your mind? Leave a comment if you feel so inclined — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!

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Created at 2024.07.10 00:18 PDT
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