The Gift Of Memory

The Gift of Memory

Such people will not be overcome by evil. Those who are righteous will be long remembered.

Psalm 112:6

“Wait, are you Katrina’s sister?” The question, asked casually at a Tuesday-morning meeting of moms from the surrounding area, stopped me in my tracks.

I replied yes, my heart pounding a little. I’d just talked about my past, my sister’s cancer, and how I still struggled to overcome my grief from her death at the age of twenty-eight. The things I had shared with the other ladies from my table had left me feeling a little uncertain and a lot vulnerable.

Sympathetic, the woman looked me straight in the eyes. I didn’t know her well, but I knew she was a nurse. She said words I’ll never forget: “Kristin, she is remembered. Your sister is remembered. There are nurses on the cancer floor at the hospital who still talk about her to this day.”

I thanked her, blinking back tears, then rushed to get my children from their classrooms and hurried to the parking lot. Then, in the front seat of my car, I started to sob.

Losing my sister Katrina was, in many ways, a defining moment in my life. I treasure my memories of our time together and mourn the years we didn’t get to have. Yet as the years have passed, I’ve been burdened in a new way with the thought that she might be forgotten by others, even as she remains vibrant in my memory.

Scripture says that “those who are righteous will be long remembered,” and on that Tuesday morning, I was reminded of that promise. Those few words spoken to me by the mom at my table, the gift of memory she so kindly passed on to me, were a priceless treasure I’ve never forgotten.

—Kristin

— Today’s Act of Kindness —

Think of someone who has experienced loss. Reach out to this person and share a memory or two that you have of the loved one they lost. Let them know that their loved one may be gone but has not been forgotten.