No Thanks for the Memories

Memories,
Like the corners of my mind
Misty water-colored memories
Of the way we were
Scattered pictures
Of the smiles we left behind
Smiles we gave to one another
For the way we were
Can it be that it was all so simple then?
Or has time re-written every line?
If we had the chance to do it all again
Tell me, would we? could we?
Mem'ries, may be beautiful and yet
What's too painful to remember
We simply choose to forget
So it's the laughter
We will remember
Whenever we remember...
The way we were...

I have a hard time remembering things. Not every day things in my life right now, or really big things like birthdays or major events. But everyday things from the past. It drives my parents' crazy because they'll say, "Do you remember when we went to ... " and I don't. My earliest, clearest memory is not a happy one, and for the most part, I have small glimpses of memories of my childhood, but not clear, close-your-eyes-and-you're-back-there memories. And yet there are memories I have that I'd kind of like to erase from my mind.

If there was a way to erase moments from your memory, would you? I mean, if there was a procedure or a medication that could be done to erase only certain things from your mind, would you chose to do it? Arguments or accidents or kisses or injuries? Are there files stored in the back corners of your brain that too often get brought to the front and linger there? If you could, somehow feed the file through a paper shredder, would you? And since this is my hypothetical, I can say the removal would not cause any harm and would not change anything, other than putting an end to the moments that haunt you.

An immediate reaction would be to say it would be totally impossible. Because even the bad memories have shaped us into who we are, and if they weren't there we wouldn't be who we are. So I'm not suggesting to go back and change the past, simply to not be able to remember some of it so well? Do you have any moments you sometimes wish you could forget? And if you could, would you?

I do understand the idea of looking back and things seeming not as hard as they were in reality. The Way We Were is a great song, but I don't think it's all that true. The painful things are the ones I cannot "simply choose to forget." Sometimes I'd like to. And sometimes the laughter we do remember is a part of the painful things we wish we could simply choose to forget. We all have things in our past that were nnecessarilyily bad moments, but in the light of who we are today, are not good memories - habits we had, loves we had, places we went or choices we made. The ghosts that haunt us live to scare away the happy things in our lives. Andtrulyely believe God is the only One who cexorciseise some of those demons.

So. If you could forget, would you? And are there things your life would be better off if you could block out?