Down the rabbit hole of my memory...

April 8, 2009 10:05 AM

I have some sort of strong, almost visceral feeling of memory related to the word "Vero", as in Vero Beach, FL. Can you help me figure out why? May be related to a story or song from my adolescence...

This is so, so far out of the realm of an answerable question that I'll be shocked if I get any responses, but it can't hurt to ask. A month or two ago, I was reading something that mentioned Vero Beach, FL. The word "vero" felt immediately familiar to me, and I had some sort of overwhelming wave of nostalgia. It's been bugging me ever since, and I can't remember at all what it could be due to. I've thought on it more, and I think I might have read and felt strongly about a story, or a book, or maybe some song lyrics, that mentioned a character named Vero (in my mind's eye, it's a girl, maybe blonde, but that could be a red herring), after the place. Or maybe just where the place figured strongly.

The feeling is definitely attached to my adolescent period, which I've managed to repress pretty deeply, so it's not surprising I can't remember it. This would have been sometime in the mid-to-late 90s, but could have been something older that I read during that period, but that dates from an earlier time. I did a lot of drugs at the time, listened mostly to punk rock, and was on the internet a lot. Read a lot of books and stories. Really, it could be anything, but if you have any ideas, I'd love to hear them.

posted by booknerd to writing & language (12 comments total)

Could it be...Vera from Pink Floyd's The Wall:

Does anybody here remember Vera Lynn?
Remember how she said,
That we would meet again,
Some sunny day.

Vera!
Vera!
What has become of you?
Does anybody else in here feel the way I do?
posted by Kafkaesque at 10:10 AM on April 8

I remember a book from my mid-to-late-90s childhood/adolescence with a character named Vero. The story was about four(?) girls and each chapter was narrated by one of them. The girl's name wasn't really Vero, it was April - we don't find that out until the end of the book - and, sadly, that's all I can remember. I'm googling to find more, but my memory isn't giving me a lot to go on.
posted by harperpitt at 10:23 AM on April 8

Harperpitt, you definitely could be on to something there... Vero/April also sounds a bit familiar, and the time frame is right.

It's definitely not the Pink Floyd song. I've never been a fan of them (but thanks for the response!).
posted by booknerd at 10:27 AM on April 8

I had a LiveJournal friend from Vero Beach ages and ages ago, though I'm not sure you could say the same.

The only other association I have is with Vero candy. Their mango lollipops were featured on Bad-Candy.com nearly a decade ago. Kind of a shot in the dark, but you never know.
posted by Metroid Baby at 10:28 AM on April 8

Long shot: Could it be the cognate with "verum" as in "truth"? Some truth you don't want to face?
Even longer shot: ever used products made with 'Aloe Vera'?
posted by blue_wardrobe at 10:33 AM on April 8

Harperpitt's book is, I think, Nobodies and Somebodies by Doris Orgel, published in 1991.

Arriving midterm at her new school, Laura is drawn to three girls who obviously are best friends and have formed an exclusive club. The story is told in succeeding chapters from the viewpoints of Laura; Janet, another excluded girl; and Vero, a recent arrival in town who has been accepted by the group because she seems to have the necessary attributes. In the end, all the problems are sorted out and both the nobodies and somebodies have an opportunity to join an open, environmentally sound club. The arrangement of the chapters is not entirely successful because the resulting flashbacks and overlapping versions create an untidy and somewhat confusing progression. Vero's account is almost a complete story in itself without the issue of clubs.
posted by Siobhan at 10:51 AM on April 8

(and here's the cover, in case it helps.)
posted by Siobhan at 11:01 AM on April 8

Oh, for the love of - wow, Siobhan, how on earth did you find that? I tried every combination in Google I could think of. Amazing. I am truly impressed!
posted by harperpitt at 11:01 AM on April 8

Good lord. Yeah, that is definitely it. I'm completely baffled as to why I have such a strong feeling associated with the word/character, but there it is! Maybe I should re-read, since I don't remember ever having read it to begin with. Thank you!
posted by booknerd at 11:03 AM on April 8

Harperpitt, I'm a librarian, although probably not your librarian. EBSCO has a great database called NoveList that is almost always successful at answering my "what was that book?" questions -- you can search by the name of a character, or you can describe the plot. A lot of public libraries subscribe to it. (Seriously, the discovery of NoveList might be one of the top five things I got from library school.)
posted by Siobhan at 11:10 AM on April 8 [2 favorites]

At least in Mexico, Vero is short for Veronica.
posted by clearlydemon at 12:01 PM on April 8

Siobhan is amazing at this kind of thing.
posted by Jonathan Harford at 2:20 PM on April 8