Home is where you store your memories...

Dear Diary,

I am finally home and a bit exhausted by the process.  I struggled to think of something to post today but this calendar hanging on my cellar door sparked something in me.  This is the time of year when pantries were stocked to get through the coming winter.  With food easily available to us now, most don't "put food by".  But one thing we do try to preserve is our memories.

Awhile back I said that the memory was more important than the experience and this week has proven that to me.  In many ways, it was a horrible, stressful and painful week, at least that is what I experienced.  But what I will preserve from it is all the many kindnesses I have been shown, the caring people, many whom I didn't know, who work tirelessly to get me through this so I could come home again.  All those prayers and healing thoughts I carefully gathered and they were as beneficial to my well-being as the medicine.

The scars will heal, the pain will subside in time but my stored memory of this week will be one I will cherish for the rest of my life. The difference between a preserved memory and a jar of peaches is the memory can be taken out and savored over and over again and it will never diminish.  So, yes, the memory is more important than the experience.  Thank you.