What makes you ............ you ?

 

So, I have known Doug Dunnevant for 40 years. 

He is married to Lisa’s 3rd (4th? I don’t know for sure) cousin Pam.

 Although we have known each other for a long time, I wouldn’t say we had any kind of a relationship or friendship over the years. 

 I would see him once a year at their family’s annual trip from Virginia to Dummers beach here in Maine throughout the 1980s and 1990s.

 It was a yearly camping get-together for them and Lisa’s family.

A few years ago, with the help of social media, Doug and I reconnected, mostly around our mutual love of writing and political debate.  

He has also developed a decent talent for fishing but that’s another story.

Doug is a successful Financial??? dude?? advisor?? Not sure of the exact title but he has a successful company and has done well for him and his family.

What many don’t know is that Doug is also an incredible writer.  

Yes, he has a daily Blog, but he has written 5 wonderful novels over the years, and I have had the privilege to have read them all. 

Actually, I guess it's 4 novels and a book about his parents. 

A few years ago, he asked me to give him my opinion on the starting chapter of a book he was thinking about writing. (he must have been desperate for advice) I read it and provided my feedback.

Little did I know what that would lead to. 

 Over the last few years, I have been fed 4 novels, one chapter at a time. Often with weeks to even months between chapters.  

I was able to watch each one develop from the mind of this great writer to the page in the original rough form.

I was able to watch the characters unfold, trying to anticipate where Doug would take them next and seldom was I correct.

To read a book as the author is creating it one chapter at a time has been a real source of enjoyment for me over the years. 

Certainly, it’s not the easiest way to read a book, but Doug would often share thoughts and struggles he was having along the way with plot twists or characters and watching how he worked through them was fascinating.

Yes, Doug is a successful Financial “guy”, but he is also a great storyteller!

 I wish you all had the chance to read his books, I know you would love them as much as I did!

 I think he does have 2 published. One actual book about his parents, in book form and he has one published for download…. I think.

But he has 5 incredible books that I know all of you “readers” would enjoy. Hopefully, you will get the chance someday!

I wasn’t planning on this story sounding like I had become his Publicist, but I felt like you needed some background to make this next part make sense.

Although he has begun a new book and of course it's great so far! 

 I received chapter 7 last night with a note indicating that it would be all for now as we go through the holidays! 

 There was a small part in the last book he wrote about a man who lost his memory that really stuck with me.  The man had no recall of his past life at all.

When I read it, I stopped and really thought about the words. I read it many times before moving on with the story.

It has been rolling around in my head ever since.

Here is what I feel is a very profound and powerful thing to think about as written in the book. 

“What is a human being if they are stripped of all 

memory?

 If the mind is emptied of thoughts and reflections of everything that had gone before, could it be said that man still exists?

Robbed of memories, human beings live without context, making them the loneliest creatures in the world.”

I would ask you to read it again and really understand what he is saying.

I don’t know why that resonated with me, but it did.

Are we all simply the sum of our life parts. 

Our personality, behaviors and attitudes formed by years of piled up memories and experiences creating the person we are today but not the person we will be tomorrow.

Does each day, each experience be it trauma or joy, slightly shape who we are and what we become?

And what if it was all taken away? What if we lost all memories? 

Would we still be the same person? 

Or would we start over with a new beginning and become something different based on experiences yet to come?

I don’t know, and I had never thought about it before until I read those words in Doug’s book. 

I would hate to think that “who” I am is based only on what’s in the rear-view mirror and what’s waiting for me on the road ahead.

But if Doug’s words are not true, then what truly makes us who we are? 

Certainly, something to think about!

What makes you………. You?