A Gathering of Memories

I just returned home last night.  My heart (and camera) is full…

If you missed the previous memo, I went to Montana to visit my family.  Of the 12 days I was away,  6 were spent on the road…and yes, I flew there.  You see, Montana is not only “Big Sky Country”, it is one BIG state as well!  13 hours of driving lies between my sister’s home and the vicinity of all our other relatives.  The fun part was, every one of those days was spent with my sister Becky.  And, you know what? We never -even after all those hours together- ran out of things to talk about.  Well, I guess I did fall asleep in the back seat once and lost track of 2 hours of time.  But, by then, we’d already picked up our other sister who helped carry on the never ending conversation. It was so. much. fun!

(my sisters: Becky, on the left, and Susan)

The days in Montana were filled with catching up with family and friends; meeting  fiancés and holding new babies; coffee time conversations and Tastee Hut burgers.  The big, blue Montana sky lit up at night with sunsets that still take my breath away

 

and it was precious to stay in the home that I spent every one of my growing up years in.

It turned 100 years old this year (or perhaps last year?) and my sister-in-law has it decorated beautifully.  It holds a boat load of good memories for me, and in my 3 days there, just added more…

We spent one afternoon going through  Mom’s recipe files (to someday make a book out of) and told many “remember when” stories.  Of course, we did a lot of laughing, too…

And, did I mention, it was over 100 degrees while we were there?  Oh boy…I’ve never been thankful enough for the dear soul who invented air conditioning…

I can’t sum up all the memories (and 283 pictures) in just one post, so I’ll fill in a few more details in the days to come, but I’ll close this evening with my most precious memory of all…

The whole reason for this big venture was one special lady – Mom.  We were able to spend some time visiting her in the home she now lives in.

Although dementia has robbed her of words, her hugs were precious and her laugh still beautiful.

I’m not gonna lie.  Although I’d tried to prepare myself for the natural deterioration that comes with the disease, I still found it heartbreaking, and honestly the memory of seeing her still chokes me up.

But, I was able to look her in the eye and say, “I love you, Mom”

and for me, that was the most precious part of all…