SHE KNEW

The daughter suspected there was a problem…and found it quite upsetting.

when she began to notice how many little things her mother was forgetting.

Initially she thought it just old age…when she forget certain letters of the alphabet

until there seemed to be no end to the things she would forget.

She witnessed her decline with sadness knowing there was nothing she could do.

And she wondered how sad her mom would be…if she was seeing it too.

Until the day she found her mother surrounded by old photos…family albums too.

And when she saw tears streaming down her mother’s face…she realized…she knew.

It took a moment for her mom to recognize her…both faces showing the strain…

For how does one unveil love while concealing so much pain?

“So Momma, what are you doing?” she asked, her worse fears playing out,

“Surrounded by all these albums…with all these photos strewn about?”

“I don’t quite understand this” her mom said, “it’s all just too bizarre,

but when I look at some of these people…I can’t remember who they are!”

“I hoped if I studied these pictures…their names would come back to me…

and I’d remember them before they fall…through the holes in my memory.”

So she sat down next to her mother…whose life was slowly becoming a blur

and as they looked at every person in every picture…she helped her remember who they were.

But, despite doing everything in her power…everything she could think to do…

the holes in her mother’s memory grew so large…

eventually everyone fell through….

“I wonder in the end if your mom knew how much you loved her?”

her husband asked when it time came to bid her mom adieu…

She smiled…“Love is a feeling…not a memory.” she said.

“She knew”…I’m sure she knew.”