I woke up. I don't know why, or how. I just did. Maybe there's a reason. I looked over at my alarm clock. It was 2:30 in the morning. I sighed and fell back in my bed. After a few minutes of lying there in silence, I slowly got up out of my bed. I turned on a lamp and grabbed my glasses. I then stumbled over to my cane, which i then picked up. I looked over at my wife, who was still sleeping in bed. I glanced back at her once more, then slowly exited the room. I took it step by step, and moved very slowly. I walked into my library, which was the pride and joy of my home. I loved the cozy feeling that I had when I entered the room. I walked over to my chair and sat in it. I sat for a few moments, taking in this wonderful silence. I looked over onto the side table, and I noticed something underneath the stack of papers that nobody bothered to clean up. My hand shook as I picked up the book. I dusted off the cover and a melancholy feeling grew over me. This was my old photo album.
I flipped through the pages, scanning through the photos I had taken some twenty or thirty years back. I kept looking, until I found a picture that I had taken around fifty years ago. This photo brought back many memories. I pulled the photo out of its plastic covering and looked at it closely. It was a photo from my twenties. I remember those days- less technology, less stress. Those were also the years that I met my first love- up in Snowpoint. Now I have everything, but I am limited by my age. I moved my hand over my forearm, where four needles were pushed into my wrinkled skin. That was my lifeline, the only reason I am still living. I have a heart condition: the moment that the needles are pulled out or the fluid pouch strapped to my upper arm ran out of fluid, i would be dead in a matter of minutes. But these memories- these feelings, they brought tears to my eyes. I was crying tears within a few seconds, holding the photo in my hands. I knew I couldn't relive those days. That was history. My grandchildren were all now in university, and I was sure that great-grandchildren were around the corner. Was I really supposed to be alive?
No. I wasn't But technology let me live. Technology had advanced so much since back then, that it started to scare me. However, it was too early in the morning for me to think these things. I pushed back in my chair and relaxed. I stared at the picture once more, my eyes still wet. Memories, memories...
