I always think it is so important to keep the memories strong of the ones that have left us too soon.

We never know who is going to be with us tomorrow or who will become a memory in our hearts.

When my mother-in-law passed, my boys were very young. My youngest was just 3 years old. I wondered how they would ever keep her in their hearts.

I made each child a memory book of her and filled it with her photos of them with her, although her time with them was so short, there were many stories and photos. I suppose a lot of those stories were mine, as they were too young to remember their own, but anything with them with her or about her, of the woman I knew, was shared.

Some stories were not shared in their memory books but in our everyday lives.

Over the years, the stories shared about their grandma have become so known that sometimes, they would question if they are stories that they remembered about her or if they were stories that my husband and I had shared with them. 

Our precious memories are what we are left with.

When I  have experienced loss the friends that allowed me to talk about my loss and to share stories helped me so much. May times those stories would trigger tears but over time, I found that I could share and smile in reminiscencing that story. My heart would go from aching, to missing, to feeling of love in my heart, depending on the day, it'd go back to missing.

If you are with someone that has lost someone close to their heart, ask them about him or her. Many want to share but don't want to make others feel uncomfortable, but in reality they are keeping their loved one's memory alive.

In the past few years, I have met Goldstar mothers and fathers, (moms and dads that have lost their children while in the service.) I love when they share stories about their Marine, their Airman, their Soldier, their child. Sometimes, when stories are shared, we build such a connection and many times, even if we may have never known the person, we feel that we had. I can't tell you how many times after hearing a mom talk about her son that has passed, that I can honestly tell them that their son sounded like an incredible young man and I wished I had known them.

If you lose someone close to you, share your memories.Share your loved one's stories. Keep them alive in your hearts and in others’ hearts too.

Share so much that even if we did not know them, we will feel like we did.

Forever keeping their memory strong.