I want a REMOTE for my life.

 Not a DVD or a You Hoo Channel…

no apps or Tik Tok, Instagram, 

ET or AI alien acronyms

 recently discovered in the cesspool of the internet.

Just a Remote

One that I can use without 77 pages of instructions. 

A simply simple Remote. 

Three buttons. 

Rewind

Fast Forward

Play

Oh and one oops button labeled HELP, 

in large RED font easy to read letters. 

Because at my age, the HELP button…

 is definitely required reading.

I find the Rewind button the most satisfying, as the images reveal memories that are vivid and well…memorable. I can lose myself traveling back in time, to places and faces that seem so up close and personal. 

The detail is focused and sharp. I hear music and hum along, often singing along and recalling every lyric, every artist, 

and exactly where I was as each song plays on. 

I see fashion, stirrup pants, minis, shoulder pads and panty hose. I see fashion over time, and erase the shoulder pads as they were NEVER in fashion, and panty hose I always despised.

I see friends and foes, family and odd couples, 

some names I remember,

 and some faces that will annoy me for days, 

like an ear worm, 

until suddenly a name pops up and I sigh, 

oh them. 

I see apartments, and houses, in different states, as I travel through time. I can walk through each room with such extraordinary detail that I feel transported by furniture, wallpaper, landscaping, living spaces and cars parked outside a garage. I find myself grinning and mumbling to myself

 …what were we thinking? 

But when I zoom in on the faces close to me, smiling, laughing and so very tender, I think…we were so lucky. So lucky to have lived among mostly kind,

 and often remarkable people. 

What stuns me, is that on Rewind, I notice we did not have cell phones to record every second. We had Super 8 cameras with no audio, and Kodak Flash, with film that had to be processed at a photo center. I have a file cabinet of these films, and shoeboxes of photos. The difference between now and then, is why these memories are so vivid. 

I was there. In the moment. We all were. Living, loving in real time with one another, eyes on the moment. Not trying to capture the essence, while preoccupied with our phones. Not planning on posting or sharing across continents. This was OUR time and place. The memories not lost in an iPhone, but carefully stored in our hearts, our brains and our feelings. 

I push PLAY. The person I see here is soooo different from the ME of Rewind. The changes startle me a bit, until I realize how many of the faces in the past are now only memories, and I am blessed to still be here making more. 

My finger hovers over the Fast Forward button. The Remote in my hand. I am still. I do not want to know what lies ahead as the present is real enough for my taste. I treasure each new sunrise and sunset, grateful for the opportunity to greet each new day with a certain wonder and hope.

I find it fascinating, that as we age, the Rewind works best on the distant past. As I age I am aware that recent memories seem to dissipate faster, and muddle together. Luckily I am beside the person I love, as we cannot separate. We need each other. For I may know the first name, but he knows the last name and vice versa. Without each other we would be incomplete. 

We are each holding the last piece of the puzzle, 

and must join together to complete our recent history. 

This may seem a commentary on aging gracefully, but let’s face it. We all need the HELP button once in awhile. Whether young or old, to ask for help is no sin. It is a blessing. For if we live long enough, and kindly, the Help will be returned when others may need us, whether they are able to ask or not. 

So I would challenge you, you young folks out in camera overload, to put down your phone, to look up, to really see what is front of you, to make a mental memory and to be fully alive in your life. 

Put down your phone. 

Focus with your eyes. 

 Point click and shoot that moment into your brain. The true library of your life. So that one day, all you will have to do is close your eyes, to hear the sounds, the voices, to recall the landscape and to relive your memories using your mental technology.

Find the past in your heart, live joyfully present, 

and let the future be the portrait yet to be painted. 

 When life seems a bit of a sensory overload, simply press PAUSE.

And hit REFRESH.

P.S. In worst case scenarios, the HELP button is flashing.