Summary Of Remen's 'Remembering'

In Remen’s “Remembering”, she wrote about a special experience she had with one of her patients. She mentions how the process of confessing memories had healed her patient’s heart, “Through our work together I realized that some things which can never be fixed can still heal.”(136). Remen’s patient, Ana, had suffered mentally and physically through her early years. Her strong desire to survive has caused her to forget to live. Through their therapy sessions Ana confesses her painful memories and stories. Remen had became the “witness” of her memories. All these years Ana had surrounded herself with such dark memories but as she unravels herself she realized her original self is still deep inside of her. This essay had reminded me that once I was also trapped in dark memories that caused my relationship with my brother to deteriorate. …show more content…
She was really surprised that there was so much going on in my head. I remember feeling relieved because I don’t have to carry all of this by myself anymore. The next day my brother apologized to me. It turned out that my mom has told him everything I said. I was shocked and confused at the same time. I never expected my brother to know how he affected me. But now he understands me and he gave me the most sincere apology I ever received. I didn’t say a word but deep down I knew I forgave him.

This whole experience had helped me understand that sometimes you really have to speak out and face those dark memories. I had always thought that I should just carry the old pieces of memory and continue to live my life. But the memory is still there, it becomes a weapon against our relationship. This process of me confessing my feelings had mended the relationship between my brother and I. If I had kept everything to myself, my brother would never knew how his actions deeply influenced me. Although we couldn’t change the past but we could heal ourselves and change the