Where Does Time Go? October 28, 2022 – Posted in: Books, Edwin Fontanez, News

I know I’m not alone in wishing for a time-traveling machine that would take me back to those days when life seemed more “benign” and living was easier. But that is just a fallacy, a way of romanticizing the past to find a secure space to hide from the hard times we are facing today as a society. To live in the past is a fool’s errand, but to ignore it also obscures the path that brought us to where we are at in the present.

To (partially) deflect such a toxic outlook, I devised a strategy to go back in time and find once again the bittersweet roots that keep me grounded. I discovered this when I began working on my father’s memoir. As I accepted the heavy weight of my intentions, I came across an illuminating and rather fitting quote from Edward Abbey’s book Desert Solitaire, “Why I went there no longer matters; what I found there was the subject of this book.” The eloquence of this profound statement gave me the clarity of purpose I needed to define the path to follow.

It was an auspicious sign that my decision to write about my father’s life and his ensuing illness was an idea whose time had come. Taking a moment to honor his memory would guide me back to that life that only lives within my memory. I cannot bring my past back, but my final elegy to the imperfect man I love through my words is the time machine that will keep him close by.