Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Memory Full

~


The house where she used to live sits empty. The For Sale sign perched in the snow says it all.

I sit in the truck and stare at the house, my last visit to Ma’s place.

Lots of memories were made here. I’ll bet laughter still echoes in the walls. Tears stain the wood floor…along with a thousand spills from kids, and other things I won’t mention— but they came out of Charlie, the dog.

But…no more. No more memories will be made from here.

Oh, there will be laughter, there will be tears and spills...but not from us, not from her, at least, not from here.

I bite my lip, and close my eyes to squeeze back a tear—but it escapes and rolls down my face.

What’s going to become of our family now? She was the glue, this was the place. We gathered here. We loved and played and fought and forgave—right here in this place.

But now she’s gone. How will the family carry on? This place will be sold to someone we don’t know. No more kids running around in the yard, while Uncle Mark grills enough food for a small army.

No more stopping by just to say hi.

No more poop on the floor from Charlie.

The thought that keeps running through my mind as I stare at the house, that used to be a home is, no more memories will be made here.

The house and sign fill the viewfinder. Perfect shot I think and click the shutter.

Instead of, Picture saved, a different message fills the camera screen.

My first thought thinks it’s funny, so that’s why they call it a smart phone.

But my second thought knows it’s profound, as I stare at the message:

Memory Full


And right then and there, my heart finds peace knowing that Ma’s memory making days were full. Her life was well lived, and it was time for her to go.

And in that peace, we find joy. And in that joy we find strength—strength to carry on and make memories of our own.

~

3 comments:

caryjo said...

I most certainly can understand all of what you and yours have walked through and the hope on the future hearts.

The word the Lord has laid on me over and over again is "seed".

The seed planted through the love, encouragement, and straight-forward discipline [not real popular in our present days] can grow and grow and draw the Lord more and more deeply into their hearts. When they get to heaven, they'll sure know who it is they need to hug first -- well, after Jesus, of course.

That's what I'm hoping for when I die. Hugging the ones there, and being hugged by the ones I've been "bugging" [seeding] for these years.

You, as usual, sound like a truly God-understanding heartfilled man. Thank you.

Doug Spurling said...

Caryjo, thanks. You've got an abundant harvest waiting for all the seeds of encouragement. Seed time and harvest, sowing and reaping, the gospel is built on this. The Bible is written around it. God planted, gave His to receive many more. Keep planting

Sandra Heska King said...

Oh my! Memory full. That stopped my heart.

Big sigh...

Hang on to those memories.