Before I forget!

Now that I have finished my summer read for Nicola’s book club and have almost made up my mind which book I decide to be called my personal best summer read, I can read one of the books that I keep as back up reading. I picked a Melissa Hill book. This Irish lady writes not books that you consider making it on the shortlist for the Booker Prize. No, these are reads that are easy and light and can be finished in no time. Still, in those reads there is sometime something that can touch you and that is exactly what ‘Before I forget’ does with me.

The story is a bit cliché. Nice girl falls in love, girl looses her love of her life, girl looses her spirit, girl gets into an accident, blablabla….. Part of the story takes you to NYC around Christmas time and that gives me already goose bumps. But it not only that. The story deals with the one ability the brain grants us to brighten up our lives: memory creation!

Memories we sometimes take a bit for granted. They are hidden in that one box that we can open whenever we want or feel like it. But what if you would not be able to do this anymore and that bit by bit your memories will fade away?

The protagonist in ‘Before I forget’ Amy decides to fight back and she creates a to do list she wants to do in order to create unforgettable memories. When I read her list I wondered what my list would look like. After some thinking I came up with this special to do list.

Things to do (unforgettable)


1. taking ballroom dancing lessons (with or without P)
2. interviewing my uncle J who was a Royal Navy diver during the 2nd world war
3. taking pictures during the four seasons of the oak tree in my mother's yard.
4. writing a book and trying to get published!!!
5. following my heart in most cases
6. visiting the Hermitage in Saint-Petersburg
7. attending once the Olympic games
8. change jobs more then once
9. parking my car in our tiny garage (back ways!)
10. learning one more foreign language (odds are high that it will Spanish)
11. visiting all the continents (this will be a tricky one!)

Some of these things won’t be that tough to do but some other might take some time. Also will cost some money but then I have some good reasons to hold on to my money instead of spending it too much on bags and books!

Knowing P some of these undertakings won’t include him. It is a personal list but you only get one life! Number 6 seems perhaps a bit strange but I really want to go there. The parking thingy is a challenge. In our tiny garage two cars fit when you can park your car very professionally and that is something that I really suck at. So this will also take some time but then I will be also able to park in other places less claustrophobic!

Number 4, 8 and 10 are perhaps a bit too much asked but I am already working at it. Perhaps I should have only put down 10 items but none of the above seemed less important to me. So this is it! You are happy to join me in most adventures! But cheering on can also so create a miracle! I promise that I will support any adventure that you are about to go on and you can call me when you need bailing out of prison! Unless I have turned off my mobile while visiting the Hermitage!