Recovered Memories

When you have babies, they do so many cute or endearing things that you think you will always remember what they did when they get older. The sad fact is, that you often forget things as time goes on and more facts and information are accumulated in your brain, particularly if you have substantially more than 1.8 children. You forget which child did what unless you happen to be organized enough to keep a notebook on each child and can find the time to write it down.

It is interesting how our brains process, store, and retrieve memories. A sudden whiff of some aroma, a song from long ago, or the taste of a food that you haven't eaten in a long time can bring back memories you had long forgotten.

I had the weird sensation of reliving my daughter Tamara's babyhood when she was in the hospital recently. They say that when you undergo some sort of trauma, there is a tendency to regress and do some particular behavior that is comforting. Tamara did this. When she was unconscious from her concussion, they intubated her and then tranquilized her to keep her from pulling all the tubes and the iv's out. When I saw her, what was curiously heart-wrenching and what transported me back to the past was the way she was sucking on the tube that was breathing for her. Her tongue was doing the same thing it used to do when she was a baby and had fallen asleep at the breast, or when she had her soother in her mouth. That, more than anything is what came closest to undoing my calm. The entire time I was in the hospital with her and she was sleeping as I watched by her bedside, I kept seeing, not the big girl of seven that she is now, but the little baby I had cuddled so long. The memories were pleasant, once I knew she was past danger.

On a slightly different topic, it was very gratifying to see the strength of familial bonds at this time. Tamara can be a solitary person who enjoys her own company, but she also has a strong need to be with her own family. She is one of those kids who frequently has to smack the ants in her pants in order to sit still in church. As the days went by in the hospital, while I could see she was getting stronger and recovering, she was also becoming quieter and somewhat morose -- almost depressed. Her whole being just lit up whenever her father brought her brothers and sisters in to see her. Once she got home, recovery was very swift and happy. It was also delightful to see how the other children rallied round and took care of and were concerned for her and each other at this time.

"How good and pleasant it is when brethren dwell together in unity."