The Love of Rocks

 The other day I took my wonderful mother-in-law, Joan, to run some errands.  She is not able to get out much because she suffers from excruciating, debilitating, chronic back pain.  We stopped by my house to drop off some things.  She got out of the car and headed right over to the corner of the yard where we have a rock garden.  Kim and I created the rock garden several years ago from rocks that his parents had collected.  I knew that Kim's parents had spent most of their early years as "rock hounds", but I had never really thought much about the rocks we had gotten from them.
It was truly a wonderful sight to see Joan look at the rocks.  To me, they were just rocks, but to her each one was a precious memory of times she had spent with her husband and good friends.  She knew the classification and type of each rock and the area where each was found.

Even though I know that she was experiencing great pain in her back, she would bend over time and time again picking up a rock and reliving the memory of when she and Ross had collected it.
She literally spent 90 minutes looking and loving the rocks, telling me story after story of each rock and the memories associated with it. 


I will never again look at my rock garden without seeing the joy in Joan's face.  Even though I do not understand and see the beauty that is associated with each precious stone, I do understand the joy that memories can bring.

I was so touched by the joy and love that each of these rocks brought to Joan.  It made me remember the importance of stopping during the whirlwind of every day life and taking time for the very simple things - like rocks.

Comments

Jen said…
What a great thing for her to be able to remember and share that with you. I'm so glad you were able to make a home for her treasures!
October 18, 2012 at 9:29 AM
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