Blog 3552 – 07.26.2025

The Last Time I Saw Her Face

I am a fan of time travel movies and one of my favorite time travel books made into a movie is The Time Traveler’s Wife. I read the book when it first came out and have watched the movie more times than I have kept track of. A few years ago HBO broadcast a series called The Time Traveler’s Wife. It only lasted one season and ended with the wedding of the fated couple.

In one scene that I did not recall from the book nor from the movie version, Henry, the Time Traveler, arranges for his mother, who was a famous opera singer and who died tragically in an automobile accident when he was just a boy, to answer a question for Claire, his soon to be fiancée and wife.

He travels back in time to see his mom often as he also does Claire throughout her life beginning when she is a little girl. Henry explains to Claire that big events are like gravity drawing him back again and again to the same time, place, and person. And Claire says, “I must have been a big event because you came to see me over a hundred and fifty times.” And he says, “Yes, you are.”

Henry, works in a library and hidden behind some books in the reserved book section he keeps pictures of his mom and recordings of her performances. After her performances she frequently answered questions from the audience. And there was one tape that he had never listened to so he asked Claire if she could ask his mom one question what would it be. And Claire says something like if all relationships end in a brick wall what are we to do?

Then Henry plays the tape for Claire and his mother begins her remarks after that performance with, “I met a young man leaving the theater yesterday and he asked me to answer a question for his girlfriend and so to answer your question Claire – all relationships do end in a brick wall but short or long being in love is worth it and so my advice is to you is to just get on with it.”

Claire is of course amazed for she was not even born when the tape recording was made. Henry explained that he just made a mental note that when he next traveled back to see his mom that he would ask her Claire’s questions so that they could meet in that small but unique way.

We all travel back in time in our memories. The trick is to not get trapped there but to learn from our past and to avoid repeating the same mistakes again in our present, the only time we can really change. Having said that and believing it to be mostly true I would like to quantify that last remark a bit. In one very real sense we can even change the past by shining light on those dark and often misunderstood past events that are the root causes of so much drama and trauma in our lives. Exposing those hidden secrets that we often struggle to face can not only heal the present but also reach back and reorder our understanding of the past.

Today’s song is I think one of the most sadly beautiful ones that Glen Campbell ever recorded. The concluding line, “Beneath the battered marking stone it lies forgotten.” Is at best wishful thinking and at worst a life limiting lie. Love should never be buried and forgotten however brief or painful, but resurrected, celebrated, and replicated often. You might have to hit a few brick walls or kiss a lot of frogs to find your Prince Charming or Sleeping Beauty, yet rest assured that they will never be found beneath a battered marking stone, but very much alive as we continue living the dream.

Your friend and fellow traveler,

David James White

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1v7QcC5J4rsM05Eil1dkLaVkm0C0nNSk0/view?usp=drivesdk

The Last Time I Saw Her Face