“However many years she lived, Mary always felt that she should never forget that first morning when her garden began to grow.” ~Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden

It is hard to let go of someone you love.

In a children’s novel by Natalie Babbitt called, “Tuck Everlasting” a family is walking along a wooded path and they stop to drink from a stream. Later, the Tuck family grasped that this was no ordinary stream, for the moment they drank the water they stopped aging. No harm could come to them but they were destined to roam the earth forever. In time, they realized some of the unforeseen consequences of being immortal. They felt stuck in the world in a most unnatural way and decidedly it was a fate they wished on no one. This children’s novel was offered to me by my mother’s long time family physician. He suggested I share it with my family and perhaps read it to my mom.

I found reading to my mom an enriching experience as we spent time together in the hospital's garden area. There I began to recount some of my favorite stories that I read as a young girl; “The Secret Garden”, Jane Eyre and of course my mom’s favorite, “The Wind in the Willows.” My sister, Pat has also enjoyed reading to her from a beautifully illustrated book by Beatrice Potter.

Stories open the door to imagination, to a magical, mythical place that connects us to less complicated times. Here we drift into the carefree ease of childhood memories; of long summer days and enchanting evenings aglow with fireflies and crickets song.

Our stories bring us home to the lost parts of ourselves and back to one another. In ancient times, family histories were passed on from one generation to the next through the oral tradition. Jesus used parables so that others might understand spiritual truth.  When we share our stories we relate on a personal level and overcome barriers of separation to create intimacy, connection and communion.

Do you recall the comfort of perching on a grownups lap, enveloped in the arms of a book?

What story is waiting to be discovered in the eyes of the person before you? When caregivers are open to listening they may receive the unique gift of a person's story. 

Stories are one simple way that we can share and extend love. 

Liz Sorensen Wessel

Mandala by ~liz

Photo, Liz with Uncle Bernard