I used to be active on Facebook. Then, one random day, I deleted my account. A couple of months down the line, I joined a PR agency, and a Facebook account became kinda compulsory. So, very reluctantly, I created an account from scratch. After I set up my brand-new, no-friends account, I managed to block myself and had to wait 24 hours before I could proceed to the next step of being social. I don’t check in often, and I think I can count my posts on Facebook on one single hand – sans the extra finger. Inevitably, I don’t have that many memories to look back on when prompted: “See your memories” on Facebook.
Last week was our 14th wedding anniversary. 14 Years! That’s one helluva long time. I doom-scrolled Facebook and – miraculously so – did not have any memories to look back on. Not. A. Single. One. Did I take it personally? Nah. Rather ask me if I laughed. I did find it somewhat entertaining that, according to Facebook, I leave with nothing on March 6th. Which obviously is not true. On this day, 14 years ago, we got married. A whole nine years later we celebrated our wedding anniversary on a cold hospital floor with stale Steers and alcohol-free bubblies when the kid got diagnosed with T1D. And in between we’ve done some trips to wherever to celebrate the occasion. And this year we went to the Logos Hope bookshop ship. And next year we will do something else. And then and then and then…
I remember taking a picture early one morning in Dullstroom. I asked my dad to drive slower so I could capture the image and he asked me what it was for. I responded that it was to be posted on Instagram so that people could see the tree I was at. He was flabbergasted and said something about him not wanting people to see where he was. Which makes sense, I suppose. The point is: I gave up on documenting every single story of my life on social media. And just because I don’t share my moments with the world, doesn’t mean I don’t have memories. In fact, I am the queen of associating dates with events and delving out old photos to share with my friends and family. On Christmas day I took Instax pictures instead of phone photos. As soon as you have just one, you tend to hold on to it tighter and it almost gains material value in a very non-material kind of way.
The part that fascinates me most is that next year on 6 March, I will not have a memory on Facebook. But… On the 13th of March 2025, I will be reminded that I have no memories of the 6th.
I leave with nothing, goodbye 😉
