I am off to Portugal in a week to see my parents for the first time in nearly two years. Since 1987, we usually have been every other two years, mainly to the same resort and town. It has grown from a sleepy fishing village to a vibrant tourist area that attracts thousands each year.
As I grew from a teenager into a young adult I wanted to go and see more of the world, whilst I liked Portugal the idea of this being my only annual holiday became less attractive. So from 1997 to 2004 I went elsewhere. I visited the USA, South America, Australia and The Far East and loved it.
My first trip back to Portugal in nearly a decade was in 2005. Some members of the family were there too and though it was only a week we had a thoroughly enjoyable time. I tend to think that people act differently when they are away from home; they become more of whom they truly are as a person without and social or professional stigma surrounding them.
The week flew by, but it is one of those holidays that I look back on with happy and pleasant memories. Just knowing that you are surrounded in comfort by those who have known you since birth gives you the idea that you can actually be yourself.
That holiday was only seven years ago, yet so much has changed in that time. A few of the people that were on that trip have passed away; some are no longer physically able to fly there. So this time it’s just my parents coming with us.
I’ve been to Portugal so many times with them over the years. Yet I can only slightly reflect upon the memories of those who have come with us from that first holiday to the one next week. When you walk past a bar or a hotel that was once filled with memories, simply become a whisper on the wind.
This could be the last holiday that I have with my parents there, the final one after some twenty-five years. No doubt it will be no different from the last, beers, talking, delicious food and just enjoying ourselves away from the pressures of life.
But at the back of all our minds there will be always thoughts of the past, memories that are evoked from a sight or sound. As you grow older, we change into different people. The things we used to do are no longer who we are, yet one thing will remain constant and that is the true value of memories.
