The Best Times

I was thinking back to all the memories this old house had given me, both the good and the bad ones. It seemed so empty now that I was coming back to clean it all out. I started with the bookshelves, then my phone rang and it was my sister, Jenny.

“Hey Jeff, I’m on my way to the house to help you. I’ll bring us some lunch. What would you like to eat?”

“How about some Taco Bell, just get me any combo meal.”

“Okay, sounds good, be there soon, bye.”

I continued on with the bookshelves and I stopped to look at all the collection of stuff interspersed in them. There were pictures of me & Jenny, of mom & dad, aunts & uncles and other family members. Mom was a health nut and had many books in that genre, dad had his science & nature books and his faith based books. Then I heard Jenny coming in the door with a sack of food in one hand and her purse in the other. So I took the food from her and set it down on the kitchen table. 

“I’m sorry about what happened to mom and dad too. I just want you to know that I’m there for you. If you want to talk to me or you need anything at all, just know I love you and you always have me, Jeff.”

“Yeah, I know you do. I want your opinion on this subject. What do you think mom and dad’s best times were in this house?”and 

“I think that their best times were there in the living room, just last year because they got to hold their first grandchild there in January. Now you give me another memory of a best time for them.”

“Okay, I remember in February that dad had a Super Bowl party and we were both there. Dad had cooked some delicious ribs, and we gathered in the living room to watch the game and his team won.”

I liked our conversation about mom and dad, it felt good to think about the positive things that had happened in their lives, just laying it out there and knowing that I could talk to Jenny about anything. So we continued on with our talk and Jenny could see that this was good for me as well as her to release those pent up feelings inside. 

“Hey Jeff, do you remember in March when we had that birthday party for mom and she opened all the presents and then dad surprised her with a pair of diamond earrings?”

“Well, I loved it when we met here for an Easter Sunday lunch and I sat down on the couch in the living room and I held Morgan and mom snapped a picture of it and posted it on Facebook with the caption “Two adorable cutie pies!”

I was thinking about what happened in May and then thought of how hot it was at that time and I remembered that I had to come over and do the lawn. When I got done mom had a pitcher of fresh lemonade for me and we all sat in the living room to enjoy it. And I told Jenny about that memory, then she smiled and said “Mom could make some tasty lemonade.”

“I remember that me and Angela came here to break the news to mom and dad that Angela was pregnant in June. Mom jumped up from the living room couch and dad joined her to give us a big group hug.”

Jenny sat back in her chair and laughed. I could tell that that memory brought back the joy she felt when she was in that same situation with Peter. We both knew that mom and dad lived for us kids and showed it by the way they raised us with their devotion to faith and family.

“When July came around, that was when dad splurged on himself for his birthday and got that big flat-screen tv for the living room and we watched a movie on it after dad’s party.”

Then I stopped to think of some of mom and dad’s best times in August, but nothing came to mind because I was so busy with my own life then. There was my job and all that it entailed, there was Angela and helping her and other little things. So I asked Jenny and she said that she had talked to mom and mom told her that she had painted a picture for the living room.

“I remember having mom and dad babysit Morgan in September and dad sent me a video of her crawling around in the living room. That video was kind of a ‘pick me up’ for me because I wasn’t feeling great until I watched it and it lifted my spirits up.”

Jenny looked at me, thinking about what I was going to say. We were always close growing up, so she kind of predicted me and what I would say about mom and dad in October. I said to her “Well, I think that dad made mom’s favorite meal, which was basically anything Italian. Then they would watch a romantic movie for their anniversary.” 

“Yeah Jeff, that sounds exactly like something mom and dad would do.”

The next two months were oblivious, with the holiday season upcoming and Thanksgiving at their house along with all the good food, then there was getting the Christmas tree down from the attic and then setting it up in the living room. The presents shared with them and all the little, insignificant things that happened in that room. The kind of stuff that can be taken for granted if you aren’t careful.

Jenny could see the tears welling up in my eyes because it hurt to relive those memories that were still fresh in my mind. So she tried to give me some comfort by saying “You know Jeff, I think that mom and dad are up there in Heaven, listening to us and know that their legacy will live on through us by us sharing our memories with each other.”

“You were right Jenny, in that last year they had their best times.”