Are We Lost?

“Are we lost?” asked the girl.

“No! Just free from what the world expects of us.” the opossum replied ~Unknown

We’ve all felt lost at one time or another in our lives. One of my earliest recollections of being lost happened in a drug store when I was no more than four years old. I had stopped to play with a toy. When I looked up my parents were nowhere to be seen. Looking out the large front window of the shop I thought about the long drive we had made to get there and wondered how I’d ever get home. Just as a lump began to grow in my throat, I heard three rapid sneezes and knew it was my father’s sneeze. I ran towards the sound and there standing at a high counter at the back of the store stood my father. I remember how comforting it felt when he put his hand on my shoulder and pulled me into his side. I don’t think he even knew that I felt lost. Afraid that he would be angry, I never told him. My parents expected my sisters and I to always behave responsibly.

Later in life, my mother became lost in a world of Dementia. And at times I felt just as lost. Maybe because I didn’t know what was expected of me. Should I help her live in her home or should I advocate putting her in a nursing home? As her condition progressed, she went to live with my sister and often stayed with me. My sisters and I quickly learned to let her have her altered reality rather than bring her back to ours. We didn’t expect her to remember things or to act a certain way. However, it baffled me how a person could be losing their mind and still remember to be kind and considerate of caregivers. But that was my mother! During those last few years of her life, I enjoyed my mother more than ever!

I believed my father would take care of me. I think, my mother believed my sisters and I would take care of her. –And I believe my faith is what allows me to be free from what the world expects of me.

Please send me your comments. I’d like to know where you find comfort when you feel lost?

2 thoughts on “Are We Lost?”

  1. Lovely story Leanne and I think we can all relate to that experience at some point in our childhood of feeling lost. Beautifully told!

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