“What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.”
James 4:14b (ESV)
God gave me the honor and privilege of taking care of my mother in the years that her mind waged war with Alzheimer’s. I am thankful that her brave battle with memory loss and frailty of body is over–the victory won as her affliction gave way to the ultimate healing when Jesus took her home to heaven.
My regrets are few, but if I could have a do-over of one caregiving thing, I think I would listen more carefully to the stories she told about her childhood. In my do-over, I would sit next to her more often looking through old photos, paying attention to the memories she shared. I would take care to write down all of the memories the photos coaxed from the places in her mind where the old stories still lingered.
With the help of my daughter, I did create a memory album for her, but it would have been nice had I started on the album sooner, capturing those stories for her to read and re-read as her memories slowly faded away.
While I cannot roll back the hands of time, I do find joy in knowing she is free from the bondage of memory loss and frailty of body. I find hope in knowing that those precious moments we did share are only a glimmer of the immeasurable time we will share together in eternity.
This post was written for Five Minute Friday. One word. Five minutes to write about it. Today’s word: COULD
Barefoot Lily Lady 
Yes, oh yes. My younger sister is going through our mother’s photo albums, identifying and digitizing. Even our older sister doesn’t know the who or where or when of some of the pictures.. How I wish I’d written down or recorded our mother’s stories based on those photographs.
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Beautiful post.
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Thank you, Sandra.
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Lovely post. A memory album is a great idea – I’m glad you got to create one for her.
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This is a lovely heartfelt post. I wrote about about wishing I’d listened to stories too. I count that as a God wink! I’m sorry your mom and you had to face such a terrible disease. Love the thought that the time here with those we love is just a glimmer of what awaits us in Heaven! God bless, Your #fmf neighbor, Cindy
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Loved your #fmf post too. The journey I was on with mom was made easier by meeting others along the way traveling a similar path.
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I wish I had more of my mother’s stories too. We always have too little time.
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Lovely post, Cindie.
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