By Charlotte K. Jarmy

What is the purpose of remembering some of the devastating events of all time? Some might say, “What’s the use of regurgitating tragic moments? They can’t be changed. Let’s move on.” The very phrase “let’s move on” can be anathema to others who believe that remembering yesterday leads to a brighter today and tomorrow.

My question comes from the painful memory of August being the 60th anniversary of the atomic horror of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The newspapers remind us through pictures and interviews with survivors. I shiver at the thought, but we are worrying today about Third World countries building nuclear weapons, countries that will not bow down to American pressure to desist.

I can understand the conflict on both sides of the argument: President Truman gave the order to drop the bombs in order to avoid the probability of an invasion of Japan with the resulting deaths of thousands of our soldiers. Kurt Vonnegut’s “Slaughterhouse Five” presents the other side: the incredible outcome of turning a land and its people into a wasteland. We need to remember.

Native Americans hold inside themselves, and teach it to their children, that they were the victims of near genocide back in the centuries when Indians were considered “red devils.” Their memories did not retreat into no-man’s-land, but lie behind the pain and remorse that our children feel when history books point out the inhumanity and cruelty of our Western expansion. The great warrior chiefs intoned those words, “Not to forget, not to ever forget.”

I read an article in the Chronicle about an Arab-Israeli who stands out with his steadfast belief that the Holocaust reality could be important to the Arab cause. He explained, “The Arab world must not only accept that the Holocaust happened, but integrate it into the Arab narrative. Only then can the Arab world negotiate with Israel with a shared understanding of their mutual wants and needs.”

This man faces anger and disbelief from his neighbors and compatriots as well as from some Jewish Israelis. Yet what a courageous man he is to stand up and fight for his beliefs. Jewish philosophers often tell their people to remember the past, to avoid repeating the mistakes of that time. Most important holidays return to centuries-old events. Passover and Hannukah appeal to those memories in the midst of family celebrations.

At times like these I feel that I am too protected by the good life that living here in Los Altos offers me. It is easy to escape into the charm of the “village” that we want to continue. You can read our paper with its pictures of smiling faces and parties and stories of truly fine contributions to worthwhile efforts in behalf of caring foundations. I am proud of the reminders to seniors to reach out for social pleasures in the senior centers.

I struggle with my own memories of sad events and have a need for counseling to cope with them. But I am coming to the realization that part of my subconscious wants me to remember. August offers its sometimes-uncomfortable heat to remind us that we owe much of our summer harmony to the delight that comes before the leaves drop and the days move toward a colder reality.

I am entranced by a line in a book I am reading, “Cause Celeb” by Helen Fielding. The somewhat dysfunctional main character says, “If only your mind was washable.” She was quite depressed, but I got a great laugh out of her creative expression of misery.