Now: Connectedness Late in 2004 I did emerge from cabbageness. Triggers included the loss of my father to cancer, and the discovery in dusty old boxes in his basement of letters, photos and other reminders that before I "tumble any second" I need to rejigger some puzzle pieces.

Three of my favorite authors have advice for me in this quest. Lillian Hellman said: "People change and forget to tell each other." Oscar Levant said: "Happiness isn’t something you experience; it’s something you remember."

And lastly, my favorite Garrison Keillor monologue is titled D.J. Keillor relates the story of a young man who went to college to become a writer and ended up acquiring permanent, richly textured memories he never forgot about a brief encounter with a young woman. For instance, he imprinted every detail of a one room second floor apartment. Garrison says we only have so much room for permanent memories and it's ironic that many of these morsels take their place in the piñata mind in youth. "What do you do with a permanent memory?", Garrison implores, almost in a whisper. Then he brightens and says: "Well, you treasure it. That's what you do...We need these things to keep us warm..."

I'm not talking about "yearning" around my dusting off this rickety old memory sled. Yearning to recapture a past that is way past recapturing. I'm talking about the solace of simply keeping the puzzle pieces in place versus scattered about or lost under the sofa.  ¶ 1:54 AM