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Parting memories

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Contributed by: Mary Michele Kane on 4/27/2007

It became apparent after my elderly mother suffered a severe illness that she could no longer live independently in her own home. My sister and I discussed with her 24/7 care in her home or a move to an assisted living facility. She chose the latter.

The chore of clearing out her house to prepare it for sale fell to me. We humans are a sentimental species and mom was a big saver. It was quite a task considering the sheer volume of items ... and the memories attached to them.

I tried to tackle one room at a time, working as many hours as I could before fatigue ... or tears took over. It seemed everything I touched had some memory connected to it and most tugged at my heartstrings -- a notebook from a class my father had taken in the Navy in 1933; the stubs of two train tickets to Charleston, South Carolina -- the remants of my parents' honeymoon; my sister's first grade report card; a paid hospital bill from my 1949 appendectomy. Treasures.

And what recollections these rooms held ... the joyful reunion in 1973, months after my parents had moved to Colorado and my husband and I made the trek from the East Coast to visit them for the first time in their new home. I had never been away from my parents for that long before. And after that, the many happy vacations spent with them in their lovely abode.

The living room was the sanctum where the family gathered after the unexpected death of my father. The kitchen was our refuge as my mother and I sat numbly crying into our cups of tea after the untimely passing of my husband. Even the bathroom echoed a memory -- I could still detect the scent of my mother's Desert Flower dusting powder.

After the house sold, I closed and locked the front door for the last time. I had the uneasy feeling that I had left somehting behind ... andI had -- a part of my self.

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Kevin Villegas

, CO

Kevin Villegas has posted 97 stories and 37 comments since joining on 5/31/2006. Kevin Villegas 's average story rating is 4.89.

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