Never Miss a Memory

When I opened Facebook today to check up with work, I got another reminder to “Never miss a memory”. This is the new thing when Facebook reminds you about a photo that you uploaded the same day as today but xxx years ago, and prompts you to share it again. If you don’t do so, the photo will stop appearing on your feed, and your friends will forget about whichever the memory you have with them. It makes sense, doesn’t it?

I have received these reminders for a while now, but today it got my full attention for two reasons. Today is the first day when I make use of my boyfriend’s 27-inch retina screen while he slaves himself away at another office. Thus, when I opened Facebook, the photo from my memory was magnified about three times with a perfect resolution. It was a close-up photo of my ex. Man, the irony!

My memory went back to a night out with my team more than two years ago. Back then, I worked at the JW Marriott in Hanoi, and we often had colleagues from other offices visiting. That specific night-out was for one of those visitors, who happened to look a lot like my ex. After a few drinks, things got personal. I pulled out my phone, logged into Facebook, found a photo of my ex and showed it to the girls to check if they also saw the resemblance. That was the same photo Facebook showed me today.

There was a lot of “oh”, “ah”, “oaw” because they do look like long-lost cousins. My phone was passed around, reached my adorable boss, who also had had a few to drink. His reaction was: “Why do keep photos of your ex on your Facebook page?”. My response: “Why not?”

I didn’t think twice about that little episode until today when I saw the photo again involuntarily. It was from an album of six photos, each represents a year my ex and I were together. Six years was a long time for someone who just turned 30. It was a huge part of my early adulthood that nobody should take away from me even if I am no longer with him. That was why I keep the album, just like the mountain of postcards my best friend gave me throughout the years, or an old favourite book when I was ten even if the pages has started to go loose. The reason seems effortlessly obvious to me.

However, seeing the Facebook reminder today really made me think. Does memory really have to be shared and to be reminded of, or else they will stop to exist? I looked through the album once more time, switched it to private and closed the tab. I don’t need to worry about forgetting the past and losing a part of myself no more, I will always have Facebook to remind me (privately).

Well,

I am just kidding!