Memoirous

There are still a few of us on Facebook—though not as many as in the 2010s, For me, it’s a way to catch a glimpse of old friends, look at holiday pictures, post my bike trips. In fact, every day now there is some new old picture Facebook is reminding me of=all bike trips from the past decade. There’s fall 2015 when I cycled from Pittsburgh to Washington DC on the GAP and C&O Towpath. There’s my old bike leaning against a tree. There’s a pic from my trip to Sweden in 2014 when I rented a bike on Gotland. I had no itinerary—only a vague idea that I wouldn’t get too lost—I was on an island. Last fall I was in Switzerland, Germany, the city of Berlin. I visited friends and rode the Rhine River. There are autumn getaways—such as the jaunt I just took to Traverse City and thereabouts. That, too, will show up in my digital memories. I am followed by bike paths I have followed, the ghost of past trips haunt me both online and in mind. I see they are in my blood and under my skin. W...

I was riveted to the refresh button Friday night, trying to catch each news update coming out of Paris. It was unnerving. My husband was just there 2 weeks ago. Not that has anything to do with anything—except that more than ever I felt connected to Paris. I just hosted a family from France—not that they were directly in harm’s way, but to say I felt concerned. As I do sometimes on this blog I’ll comment on social media. For and against it, like most of us. Did anyone else notice that they received a safety check from friends in Paris? I’m not sure how I feel about this feature. I understand the utility of it, but am disheartened by the necessity. On one hand when there is a disaster such as the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan, friends and relatives bombard emergency services in hopes of locating and assessing the safety of loved ones. The “helpers” as Fred Rogers called them are overwhelmed and if there is an easy fix such as that loved one pinging or checking in...

It’s always something new at Facebook—except a button to change things back to where they were. Lately they’ve added a new feature. Facebook memories. Borrowing from your own timeline, Facebook will post something from your past. The first couple of times I smiled. The memory was precious. But the last couple have been painful, which got me thinking. What about the couple who has now split? Or the accidental death of a loved one? Or any number of scenarios where the past thrown back at us brings heartache. I’m sure I can google and find out how to turn this feature off. I can go to Facebook support and under a pull down menu select what my problem is and then receive an automatic response saying they have received my message, and it is in the queue. Whereupon I receive another message asking how that response was. If my problem has been resolved. No, and no, and no. Sometimes there is no resolution to hard memories. They continue to haunt us, make their way back ...