The faux fireplace spouts infrared heat from its front panel as a heavy mist of rain appears as fog over the early morning landscape. Gracie, the Golden lies peacefully under the edge of the recliner in which this Parkinson’s participant sits and reflects on the full pace of the last few days. Two runs for food and supplies for a family reunion and participation in a church/community program that delivers food for the weekend to children in need filled the Friday before the event anticipated for months. We arrived at the “fellowship hall” of the church and began the process of setting up the computer and projector as well as the “self serve” line of food for the crowd expected any moment. Delight filled our hearts as distant relatives of my paternal grandmother began to arrive. For some, it had been years since I had seen them. For others, it was an opportunity to meet family of which I was only faintly aware. Gratitude welled up in my heart as I found opportunities to share time and hear memories from two beautiful “matriarchs” who were blessed with years of 90 and beyond and hearts filled with delight to be sharing then with family. We shared pictures in a slide show created from old photographs from the late 1930s through the early 1950s. Genealogical charts and home picture albums were perused after sharing our meal and the afternoon was packed with stories of days gone by. As we packed away the remaining food for use in the next day’s community fellowship program, we were filled with gratitude and love for the connection to family and the collection of memories that will sustain us until the next time together. The richness of lives can never be encapsulated into a few moments, but a few moments sharing their wealth of experience are among the riches that contribute to the legacy of love!
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