Salvador Dali painted The Persistence of Memory in 1931. It hangs in the Modern Museum of Art in New York. Credit: Salvador Dali/Modern Museum of Art

“I remember everything.”
John Prine

“I remember a time I knew what happiness was, let the memory live again.”
Grizabella in “Cats”

“Try to remember the kind of September, when life was slow and oh, so mellow.”
Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt, from “The Fantasticks”

“Remembering” is a common theme in music, movies, and theatre. You can find the theme locally: “I Remember Estes Park When . . .” is a regular column in our Museum’s newsletter.

In Marcel Proust’s masterwork, “Remembrance of Things Past,” he describes the struggle to find the words to write. He eats a madeleine sponge cake dipped in tea, and the taste reminds him of earlier events in his life. His memory unlocks, images from his life come flooding back, and he has all the material he needs for his 3500-page work.

I had the privilege of awarding the Mayor’s Art Award to Boulderite Kathleen Lanzoni. Her watercolor of a silvery, peaceful pond at Lumpy Ridge kept calling me back. It also triggered a memory from thirty years ago, when I walked into the room in Florence, Italy where they keep Michelangelo’s David. The intense life of that 17-foot-tall statue affected me profoundly, centuries after the sculptor created that masterpiece. Like Proust’s madeleine, the new art connected me to my past.

Our memories are recorded in our minds. But they’re not always accessible or sequential. Images from our youth can be more vivid than something that happened last year or last week.

With a healthy mind, one can surf memories from all stages of life. If the mind erodes, it might get caught in loops. The person may become unable to retain information from minute to minute. It may become difficult to form coherent sentences or to speak at all. We might remember faces but not names. You might go into a room and not remember why you went there. Certain words elude us when we need them.

Memory is the process of recalling information. It is grouped into three categories: sensory, short-term, and long-term. Long-term memory is further divided into explicit, such as facts and events, and implicit, such as skills and processes memory. Credit: Photo illustration/Estes Valley Voice

In Estes, with its uniquely high percentage of population over 65 years of age, memory is a treasured commodity.

So, what can we do, as a community, to offer more assistance to those struggling with memory loss, and to their care providers? There are efforts afoot.

The aptly named monthly Memory Café meetings, managed by Jane Stuart at St. Bartholomew’s, are a worthy effort to help those who struggle with remembering things gone by.

The Estes Dementia Day Center project has been in the news: Peter Sinnott and Rene Moquin are actively working to get that service started. They still need substantial donations to get to the point of critical mass to fund this program for the long term. If you have the means, this is a worthy cause. Click here to email Peter, or write to him at P.O. Box 157, Glen Haven, CO 80532.

Then there was the Allenspark Community Church’s second annual Dementia Symposium on Sept, 6.

Most of us know someone who struggles with memory loss. My parents went through it; we sadly watched their practical and intellectual sides slip away. So, I try to do the right things to not slip down that same slope. Stay fit, keep a good diet, exercise the mind. But there’s no guarantees.

“Mindfulness” is a phrase we hear a lot; to me, it means being fully aware in and of the present time. It’s a good place to be, while keeping the rest of our memories intact and available. See Chazz Glaze’s latest article, “The Dark Side of Meditation,” in the Sept. 5 EP News for more on mindfulness.

I’m a non-medical person, but I can recommend that, at any age, we strive toward mindfulness. An active mind has the best chance of keeping memories accessible in the present. Focus on the issue or tasks, in front of you; focus on the people with whom you are interacting. But having broad access to your memory bank in the present is the key to complete mindfulness.

The sun comes up each day, and we have daily, weekly, monthly, annual happenings that are touchpoints for remembering – or, alternatively, for never forgetting. Use those touchpoints, be aware!

Some use over-the-counter or prescription medications to preserve memory. Prevagen and, in my opinion, one of its key ingredients, phosphatidylserine, are readily available. Remember my caveat—I’m NOT a doctor. Check with your doctor before taking any medication, even OTC.

Take time to remember your first visit to Estes. Those born here can skip that step and remember their first memories of Estes. What do you recall when you come back over one of the descents into Estes? I recall my first drive over Highway 36 in 1974 every time I return to this magical town. I feel the past meets the present every time I return to our mountain paradise.

And hopefully there is a crystal clear tomorrow for you and me when the sun comes up again on this place of beauty.

“Recall the days that still are to come . . .” — Robert Hunter & Jerry Garcia