19/366 What will they remember?

This is my sweet friend Raymond and I at church this evening. 

Background info:
31 years ago Raymond, his wife and two grown children were one of the first families to welcome me, Bill and our crew into their lives when we moved to Grayson. They have kind, loving, compassionate, generous hearts. They invited us out to their farm. Tammy, his daughter, took the children on outings. Raymond showed them his woodworking tools. His wife, Ruby showed them how she used a loom to weave rugs. They allowed the kids to pick strawberries and grapes. They provided meals for our family after births and surgeries. Tammy helped provide food for college students when Bill and I fed them in our home on Sunday evenings in the early 90's. This is not an all inclusive list. We have a long history.

Raymond has dementia. It is not a kind disease. I sat directly behind Tammy and Raymond tonight. After service he asked Tammy three times in less than a minute the name of a man standing a few pews ahead of us. We moved to the end of our row, preparing to leave and someone caught Tammy. As she was chatting Raymond leaned over and quietly asked me "What's that man's name?" I supplied the name and he asked me, "Do I know (______)? "

Seeing first hand his struggle with memory is what makes a story Tammy told me before services tonight even more special. 
Last week Raymond saw me sitting in a pew, leaned over and said, "she's Bill's wife, right?" 
"Yes, daddy"
"Well, where's Bill? I haven't seen him in a while."
"Daddy, Bill died."
and with words laced with concern his next question:
"Well, who takes care of her now?"

The beauty and blessing in that one question is multi layered:

• Raymond remembers Bill. Out of all the things he's forgotten, he remembers my husband. I'm crying again at the wonder of that.
• Raymond may not remember my name, but he has not forgotten who I belong with.
• Raymond knows Bill took good care of me.
• Raymond is concerned about me. 

Our life choices, our character, how we live out our faith, outlives our bodies.

It is what memories are created from. 

Live well my friends. 

"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen...By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain...And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks." From Hebrews 11:1-4