Broken Memories

The older I become, the more disjointed and blurred my memories become.
The camera of the minds eye ... zoom in for the present, zoom out for the past ... seems to be failing and those little things; the things that made up my illustrious past, are becoming harder and harder to recall.

I've lost count of how many times I've tried to piece together events that, although unimportant in the great scheme of things, were the building blocks of my life thus far.

Conversations that began with the words "Do you remember when ..." began to frighten me.

And it all started when ...

"Do you remember, in the army, when we were stuck in the middle of the Luneberger Heide in Germany on exercise?" asked Bob.

"Which time?" I enquired. "I've been stuck in a hole there many a time."

"Back when there was that barbed wire fence.  You know the one. When we had that old fashioned motorbike." said Bob.

"Motorbikes scare me" I said. "Only two wheels! That's just asking for trouble. Are you sure it was me?"

"Well, I thought I was until you said that" Bob sighed. "You know, I'm really having trouble piecing together that past. I must be getting old."

Bob sighed again, only longer.

"Aren't we all" I said. "What was your point, anyway? What did you want to tell me?"

"Well," said Bob. "I can't remember, was it me or was it you that tried to jump that motorbike over that barbed wire fence?"

I fell silent.

I had no recollection of either a motorbike or a barbed wire fence. I could barely remember our units exploits in the Heide at all, apart from digging holes to stand in and smaller holes to ... well, lets just say they were very quickly filled in small holes.

We walked on in silence for a while; memories ticking over in an attempt to dredge up the merest recollection of the incident.

After several minutes and good few hundred yards stroll, I said "Hey! Wait a minute. Wasn't that Steve McQueen in The Great Escape that tried to jump a barbed wire fence on a motorbike?"

"Steve McQueen?" asked Bob. "Was he in our unit too?"

I didn't press the point.

Maybe he was a member of our unit ... before he became famous.

Maybe I just couldn't remember.