REMEMBER THE LOVE

No one knew the pain, the emptiness . . . and it kept growing. Everyday -- in every room -- at every turn -- a remembrance of the loss. Each relic had its own degree of alienation and reality.

Dead! Gone! Life would never be the same!!

Daily I was dying. Memory had become an enemy that reminded me of the life I once had. Like a magnet my mind kept dragging me to a life that once was and would never be again.

One day, in remorse and pain, I murmured “take away the pain . . . take away the memories”. Suddenly there was a soft voice that said. “I can take the pain, but I will have to erase all the memories of the person you cared about. To remove the pain, I will have to remove the love.”
Remove the love . . . ?

It was then I understood for the first time. I had loved and been loved. To ask that the good times be removed from my memories would also remove the best part of my life. Worse than that, it would say that the one I cared about never existed. I could choose to focus on the loss or dwell on the love.

I chose love!

From that day I began to live again. Memories have become “rays of sunshine”. I think of my gain rather than my loss. A hundred reminders and a hundred ways to see how I was blessed. An empty chair became a reminder of happy times and of laughter. A picture could only mimic the fun and foolishness that happened that day. A room became a sanctuary of someone I once had and still have in my heart.

No one could take those memories away. I could enjoy them daily. Now I remember the love and in remembering the love . . . I am loved all over again!

Author unknown