MARCH 15
The strands are all there: to the memory nothing is ever lost.
—EUDORA WELTYWhen we have lost a loved one, we often experience a kind
of generalized fear. Our life has been so shaken. Is anything
secure? What else could be taken away?
One of the fears may well be, Will we forget? Will the
memory of the life we have shared also slip away without
the reinforcement of the person’s presence, and the shared
conversations about past times?
The shock of loss may for a time take away some of the
kinder, more joyous memories—or make them too painful
to remember. But as we begin to feel better—not so weighted
with grief—the empty spaces in the patchwork quilt of
memory will begin to fill in again. It will be like finding a
lost treasure—the more valuable because it slipped from
sight for a while.
Memories of the life I shared with my loved one are stored in my
brain. What I need I will find.