My Grandma's Memory: The First Day Of My Memory

Feeling alone, but I am not really.
My grandma’s birthday is October 5. We went to visit her for her birthday, before we moved further away. Family is important. A snapshot of my memory is the most vivid. Although it was the first day of October, in my memory it feels like summer. The sun is shining on the bright white lines of the parking lot of the Dairy Queen. We had finished eating and were going back to the car. I notice that my mom has a cup and I asked her about it. She told me she is tired and the cold milkshake will help her stay awake. This is my memory of the final conversation with my mother. It may not be the last one, but it is all I remember. I believe she fell asleep at the wheel and her time on this earth was done.

My next memory is becoming aware of my ten month old brother crying across the freeway. I wanted to go to comfort him. My mouth and arms were bleeding, and I knew I could not walk. I decided to put my head down and figure out how to help my brother. I next woke up with an older gentleman next to me watching me. He had turned me over and put a blanket on me. He told me I could go back to sleep, if I wanted. My next memory is in an ambulance hurrying towards help. I remember the siren and the trees moving past the windows. Thirteen days later I would turn 6 in the hospital. I nearly died, my recovery was long, but, that is not the hardest

One evening when my daughter was just a few months old we had gone to the store together. I had gathered up the food and we were waiting in line. As we waited I began talking to her and playing with her toes. She was laughing and so was I. I became aware a tall gentleman behind us. As I turned he said to me, “It is so nice to see a mother enjoying her children. I worked for many years as a social worker before I retired. I did not see many mothers who liked being mothers.” Yes, it was a simple conversation. But, I had been missing my mother. My daughter was little and my four sons were a handful. This was one of the tender mercies of the Lord. I still feel blessed to have had