A Lifetime of Memories...

A couple of years ago my mom began to have trouble with her legs. That is to say, she began losing strength in them. As far as any of her doctors can tell us it's due to spinal stenosis. Without looking it up I believe that I'm correct in translating that to a narrowing of the openings in the vertebrae causing pressure on the spinal cord.
 My mother has basically been on her own for almost thirty years so you can imagine how it has affected her. She can no longer drive herself anywhere so although all of her children take turns bringing her dinner to her, doing her grocery shopping and taking her to her doctors' appointments she gets no real joy from any of that. Sadly, so many times we are in such a hurry that it seems that we neglect to do the important part and that's just spend time with her. Don't get me wrong - I'm not placing blame because I'm as guilty as anyone. You've read about my constant hurries here and there. I've complained about it more than once. Never any time... never.
 So Saturday I decided pick her up and just go for a drive. I tried to take her to places that I knew she hadn't been in years. Not so much in town as places in the countryside,somewhere away from it all. Somewhere that I like to think is maybe a little closer to God. So we drove. We drove wherever the road took us and although it was only for about three hours she talked and I listened to a lifetime of memories.
 I'm sure by the look on her face as I later left her house that it was an afternoon that maybe gave her a measure of joy that she hadn't had in a while. I hope so. Don't get me wrong. I'm not patting myself on the back for doing something that I should have done long before this but I believe that we'll be taking drives a little more often. After all, there are a whole lot of spots in the road in a lifetime of memories...