My Memory Box

Challenged by a series of recent events, I've been doing some soul-searching of late. While the events are unrelated, there is a common thread they all share; one that causes me to be introspective and a little melancholy.

The first thing that happened was a result of a little too much TV time! In the span of one week, I saw an episode of NCIS and also a Hallmark movie in which a deceased parent/grandparent left behind a box of mementos, which eventually came to be discovered and treasured by their descendants. That made me think.

Another event contributing to my introspection was the funeral I attended yesterday at which the daughter of the deceased woman gave a beautiful recounting of her mother's life. Her mother was a meek but courageous person with unshakeable faith. She was kind, never sharp or biting, yet she still managed to speak the truth. I know these things to have been true of Inez Girdley.

And last week my niece asked a challenge question on social media:  "What is your greatest accomplishment in life? What are you most proud of?" That question haunted me for days because, while I was dissatisfied with my answer, I was powerless to honestly change it. How would you have answered that question?

All these events share a common thread:  When I'm gone, what will I leave behind? How will I be remembered and what will people say about me? What do I have worth leaving to someone and would it be anything they would actually find worthwhile? Better yet, what valuables do I have that would fit in a box? And, since we have no children, would anyone even want it anyway?

Well, I hope someone would want it; that someone would want to remember me.

What would I put in my box? Maybe my wedding rings or maybe a thumb drive with my writing works on it. Maybe I'd leave my Bible with all its markings and notes so someone who came behind me could see what blessed me. I think I'd also put things I inherited from my grandparents, mostly jewelry or coins, and my great-grandma's recipe book. And instructions about all the spiral bound notebooks they would find around the house--the tool I've used to keep notes and recipes and finances and Christmas wish lists and garden ideas over the last 20 years or so. I once told my niece if she ever wanted to know what my life was really like, she should collect all the notebooks all over the house and read them.

But I still have one more question, and maybe this one is the best question of all: If someone else were making a box that depicted their perception of my contributions during this life, what would it reflect? What would be in it? If they were recapping my life would they use words like "faithful," and "kind" and "generous?"

So at the end of the day, when I'm gone, I'd leave a box with my wedding rings, a thumb drive containing my writing, my Bible, a couple of pieces of family history, an old recipe book, and instructions about my notebooks. And I hope that at my funeral, people would remember and talk about the good things...the God things...about my life. Most of all, I hope they would say I was faithful to God and to my family and friends.

Maybe my memory box isn't as exciting as the one on NCIS (it had military awards and a mysterious key in it), but I hope it would turn someone toward Christ.

What about your memory box?  What would it say about you?