I have been shopping for Christmas and searching for the perfect gifts for those I love.
I walked through the stores at the mall and looked at all the wonderful gifts that I could buy. I took my time because these will be special gifts that will be opened on Christmas morning.
While shopping, I thought about a store that I wish existed in our mall.
It would be called "The Memory Place Store".
I could go in this shop and buy my gifts to give to Peggy for Christmas.
I could stroll down the isles of the Memory Place Store and buy all of her memories back, wrap them in pretty christmas paper and give them to her this Christmas morning.
On Christmas morning, under her Christmas tree, there would be colorful boxes, decorated with bows and glitter and signed, Love, Mary Louise.
She could open the boxes one at a time and each would contain a group of her forgotten memories.
One box would have all the stories of her childhood.
Just by opening the box, her childhood memories would flood back into her brain as she sipped the coffee that she loved.
Next, she could open the gift box containing all of the memories of her teen years.
She would carefully take them from the box and drape them around her neck and in a flash, all of those memories would be hers again on this special Christmas day.
Then, she would open the next three boxes.
Those boxes would have the memories of her 20's, 30's and 40's wrapped in white tissue paper.
She would open the boxes one at a time and have all of those memories drift back into her mind while sitting in the light of her shining, twinkling Christmas tree.
The next gift box would contain the memories of her husband, her marriage and of her children.
What joy would shine from her face as she looked at them lying in the box and she could remember all of the times they spent together.
She would throw the contents of the box into the air and let the memories rain down on her and bask in the glow of their love and remember each of them once again.
The last gift box would hold the memories of our parents, her sisters and her brother.
She would smile and hold the box to her heart and remember the love that we all share. She could take each memory out and hold it in her hands. She could throw the memories around like balls, bouncing them from the floor to the ceilings while laughing.
Her eyes would be shining and brimming with tears because she could remember her life and the love that was shared at Christmas time and the rest of the year.
On this special Christmas morning...The morning of miracles, Peggy could have a miracle for one day.
For this one special Christmas Day, Peggy would get 7 beautiful boxes. Each box containing the gift of the remembering her life.
She would open all of "The Memory Place Store" gifts that were carefully wrapped in beautiful paper and colorful bows.
She could unwrap her past and present and remember.
She would have one day to remember what it is like to love and be loved.
Peggy would know on Christmas day morning that even though her life is disappearing...
My love for her will never disappear! We gave one another the gift of our love for many Christmases.
Just because she cannot remember.... doesn't mean that I will forget!
Life may end, times spent together may end but ....
Love remembered at Christmas and through the year will never end!!
Merry Christmas, Peggy!
I Love You Today!
Mary Louise
4 comments:
The memory store is a great place to visit for all people in the family, every year. Remembering the love of the past, present and future does sound like the best present for any of us. Peggy hasn't lost those memory gifts forever. I wish she hadn't lost them temperarily. If she does lose her memory forever, we all will. And I'm sure God will bless us all with a beautiful present to take it's place.
Love,
Wendy
MaryLouise,
What a beautiful entry. I sometimes get angry when I see people who CHOOSE to forget their memories. Tossing them away as if they were nothing. Then there are those like your sister, Peggy, whose memories were taken from them. How unfair it is.
Have a Blessed Holiday, LuAnne
As always a powerful entry. With my wife's MS, it's shorter term memory that is lost. She lives in "NOW" and "DISTANT PAST". Fortunately I can create a Memory Store with technology. Old family VHS tapes and pictures I convert to DVD to play on a wide screen TV to accomodate her failing vision and she can 'repair' or simply 'remember for the first time' family memories. They don't last for her, but there is always a rewind button.
Patrick
A very sweet and touching post.
Merry Christmas!
Gabreael
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