The Mist of Time

A Suffolk summer holiday meant a visit to Southwold and a stroll along the pier. This has been greatly refurbished to recreate the attractions of old  –  the seats in windbreakers, the cafes and shops, and the penny arcade (this one is rather quirky, and it requires old pennies to operate the games).
On this visit the pier disappeared into a sea mist, giving it a rather eerie sense. It struck me that the hey-day of the seaside pier had also disappeared into the mists of time and that this attempt at commercial nostalgia does not quite make it. “It’s not like it used to be”.
Working, as I am at present, with folk in care homes I grapple with the issues of memory and its loss. Memories of times past are so important and often vivid, yet for many it is the memory that is fading and life is lived very much ‘in the moment’.
Someone might well say “Memories are all I’ve got – and I’ve lost those…!” which seems tragic, but it simply heightens the importance of enabling people in such a situation discover the life that they have now. It is not all lost in the mists of time.

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