Memories

 

This is the time of year when families gather and old photo albums are pulled out and memories are shared.

Except for this year.

The memories are still there, but there is no one around to hear them. That makes this year a different memory.

Old family movies showing snowball fights and unwrapping presents with no sound might bring back a memory, but it is only that.

Being home alone is a time to go through old photos and letters remind you of those who can’t be with you this year. Singing Christmas carols without harmony is pitiful. Decorating a tree for yourself can bring back when the dusty ornaments were bought. They may be hand-me-downs from another Christmas time or family heirlooms passed through generations. Then they will all have to be boxed and put back away in the attic.

The tacky sweater and goofy jewelry over the daily sweats only prolongs the agony before the wine is opened. Television, movies and music are repeats.

Some memories are unforgettable and others are a bit foggy without someone else around to fill in the details. Some memories are forgotten and some wish to forget.

Each memory is different from another’s point-of-view. Did we eat rice pudding or ambrosia?

So many other events happen in your timeline, layered deep in the recesses only to be prioritized during seasonal reminders or faded off the page losing all reference. Occasionally a word or a smell or a sound will jolt a long lost memory that may bring a smile or a tear.

In the end, memories will be all we have left. Whether documented or not each and every one of us will have our own perspective of the life that proceeded the time of the last rites.

Maybe our memories are what Saint Peter reads in the book before we enter?