Here’s the thing about memories…they give you the opportunity to relive something that happened once. There are favorite memories that we keep tucked away in our hearts, bringing them out to enjoy and cherish, and there are not-so-great-memories…but even those can serve in a positive way if they remind us of what is no longer a part of our life today. However, I have learned that we should never take memories for granted.

Spending time with someone who does not have the ability to recall events can be heartbreaking when you realize they cannot recall all the details of something that they once enjoyed. We can show pictures, retell the sequence of events, but the emotional connection is lost sometimes. Or perhaps they don’t know what they are missing and so they are not as sad about it as we are. Maybe it doesn’t matter. I think the act of sharing time with the person and telling a story with all the details possible is a good way to connect…even if all they can recall are small pieces of the story, like bits of patterned paper, even with blank areas, it can still make a beautiful new memory.