Rosemary 1969 with Bougainvillea glabra - 27 July 2026

Dalvador Dali - The Persistence of Memory

This lovely bougaunvillea started to bloom yesterday on my bedroom table by the window. It was Rosemary’s favourite. Somehow it has survived in the warmth of my bedroom. It is impossible for me to look at it every day when I am in or on my bed without thinking of Rosemary that was. And yet her plant persists to remind me of my loss after a 52 year marriage.

Rosemary in Buenos Aires 23 March 2027

At my age of almost 84 I sometimes think that my forgetting names or getting into my car and not knowing where I am going are signs of impending dementia. But my persistent memory plays some strange tricks. I can see the photograph of an actor or actress from that other century and the name comes instantly into my grasp. Possibly because of my dyslexia I had to look up the spelling of bougainvillea

Many of these memories are what Julian Barnes in his 2026 January book Departure(s) [does not explain why he has that s in brackets] Involuntary Autobiographical Memory or IAM. I wrote about the book here: Julian Barnes - Death and the Lemon Table

I love that variation of the word to remember in Spanish that Jorge Luís Borges often used in his poems and essays - rememorar. It sort of means, in a lovely poetic sound - to remember again.