The Temperature of Memories | Teen Ink

The Temperature of Memories

January 13, 2015
By Ecsrui BRONZE, Beijing, Other
Ecsrui BRONZE, Beijing, Other
3 articles 0 photos 0 comments

Favorite Quote:
I am a slow walker, but I never walk backwards


“If only the people in the photographs could talk,” She thought, gazing through the photos on her portable MP4. Then, she gave out a sigh which had formed a thin cloud of white vapor which blurred the screen as well as her eyes.
     

In one of the pictures, her grandma was smiling, her hand holding a scarlet red scarf which dangled from an airing rope. Marie had never saw that kind of smile before; in her mind picture, grandma’s smile was always mother-like, optimistic, and encouraging. In this picture, her smile mingled with shyness, and the capacity to see all the things through. Like her grandma was reminiscing in her girlhood, like she was saying, “I wish I could have such a beautiful muffler before.” Or like “I knew one day you will look at this picture and miss me so much.”
     

On another, her grandma was casting a surreptitious look at her grandpa at the dinner table, a look full of emotion. They stayed with each other for such a long time and Marie remembered that they barely quarreled. “The secret of keeping a long relationship is love,” her lips seemed moving, “and tolerance, a lot of them.”
     

The next, her grandma and grandpa were all staring at her. Marie liked this picture the most, like they were saying, “Marie, are you OK?” Or sometimes, in her vivid memory, “Cheer up, little bunny, we will always love you.”
     

She scoffed at these far-fetched guessing works, but she couldn’t deny that they were her only condolences. When people died, all the memories around them seemed to hurt. And the pain doubled when you lost two of the most precious ones. She still remembered that day, when the cold call came, informing her shortly that her grandma was gone. And the same kind of phone call, which came after two months and 11 days, about her grandpa. Of all the people in this world, they love her the most, in a way even more than her parents, in a way we could call it “selfless love”. And it did shatter your heart to pieces when you lost two of them. Time did help to fix the pieces together, but the cracks would always be there, like the scratched screen of this old MP4, bought 10 years ago, still, one of her favorite possessions, like it had temperature.


The author's comments:

I write this article in memories of my late grandparents and I believe that sometimes we would be healed by facing our grief directly instead of escaping from it like nothing had happened.


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