Mostly ...

... Certainly not all, but mostly ... my life is a storehouse of memories these days. No matter that I dream ... of future trips to God's creations still in a natural state, and still some slices of wilderness carved out and yet unspoiled, I know now what I never wanted to know. I can feel it in my bones and in my heart and worse, I feel it in my gut. I feel it in the dwindling energy I have each day. I see it in the slowing of accomplishment, even of the simple things. I watch ... as each day goes by ... ever faster, the unfinished lists ... ever longer, ever more impossible to complete. So many things have vanished, friends, loves, abilities ... once bountiful ... gone, but for the memories. Will they someday die with me, these memories? And yet, God's grace calls to me, ... and I respond, and still I dream, and still I hope ... that in the end, somehow I will have given something of benefit ... to those I've known ... to those I've loved ... to those in need, to those who cared - if only for a brief moment in time. With love in my heart, I remember ... them all. And, I am thankful ... for the memories.