What You Remember

I almost never listen to Garrison Keillor the (now retiring) host of Prairie Home Companion.
David told me he only started liking the show once he hit 40 and if I find myself paying attention to it, it would mean that I am old. Tonight I listened to it long enough to catch a monologue about knowing when your life is over. His will be over, he said, when he no longer remembers 1. the planets in the Solar system and 2. all the counties of Minnesota. Then he listed both. Minnesota has a lot of counties.

Then I got the urge to list the names of all the kids who were in my primary school class in Budapest, in alphabetical order.

(Bacsa, Balogh, Der, Fodor, Forgacs, Gal, Gombocz, Hendrei, Hornung, Hornyak, Kepes, Kovacs, Koszeg, Krassoi, Krall, Mayer, Mester, Milhoffer, Muranyi, Olah, Piller, Renfer, Ronai, Rozsa, Schiffer, Somoskuti, Szebehely, Sztrapko, Terek, Varga, Vago, Vertes,Voros.)

What else is there to hold on to?

A Grieg Waltz (played here on the internet by a little girl) as the only piece I've been able to play by heart since I was 10 years old whenever and wherever. (I won my only piano competition playing it.)

This beautiful poem by Petofi Sandor, as read by one of the best Hungarian actors ever.

And ok, the planets.