keep memories

I was on a business trip to a small border town.

This is my second time to this small town. The last time we traveled with my family, my daughter was still young. We visited the historical sites, but she was not interested at all. Compared with those historical sites, the children actually like a sculpture in the city center. It was a teapot several meters high. My daughter had never seen it before, so she took the initiative to watch and play with it for a long time.

This time I was alone, walking around and imagining things because of the different scenery. Think about how those people who left their names in history books experienced joys and sorrows here. No matter what great achievements they achieved or what attitude they left behind, the suffering and hardship they experienced cannot be truly understood by future generations.

Somehow, I made my way to the place where the teapot sculpture was erected. We passed that square many times at that time, so I remember it very clearly. However, the teapot sculpture is no longer there, replaced by a musical fountain. Walking here, I couldn't help but recall the scene at that time, how my daughter looked up under the teapot and how she imitated the teapot's posture to take pictures...

Leaving the small square, I continued walking forward and looked at the buildings and trees on both sides of the street. It seems that what I see is not this small town, but the memories related to this place. Whether it is the events and characters in history or the memories left in my own mind, they all seem to tug at the heartstrings more than the physical objects in the small town.

Thinking of this, I suddenly realized that for many things in life that we cannot let go, what we value are often the memories and sustenance related to them, and those things themselves are nothing. Therefore, when we treat those things in life that are lingering and difficult to let go from a different perspective, everything will be different.

Things in the world are complicated, and it is impossible for us to hold everything we care about in our hands. The most precious things will naturally enter and remain in your heart. Keeping memories means keeping everything. As for how physical objects come and go, why not let us just let it happen?