The Library of Lost and Found

by Phaedra Patrick

it was impossible to remember everything about a person from the past. You formed your own idealized picture of them, rather than an accurate one.

Elderly people don’t just want to look at photos of the past, or of a nice bloody view. I want to see bright lights, and hear music, and see young people having fun. I want to remember doing it myself.”

She’d lost the ability to process a compliment. If someone said anything nice to her, by the time she’d mused over the conundrum of what it really meant and how to reply, the moment had passed.

As she carried on with her mission, she imagined that she might feel sad, nostalgic or melancholic, but instead she found herself singing. With each item that Leslie removed, Martha’s shoulders felt lighter, as if she was casting off the person she didn’t want to be any longer.

tears spilling from her eyes, for what might have been, the life she could have had. One filled with love.

I have to find the strength to move on. Because there’s no alternative. She decided that she wasn’t going to focus on always trying to please others. She felt determined to take the time to get to know, and love, herself. And she hoped that the warm glow of appreciation she always looked for might actually come from within. I want to be glorious again.

“Time is so precious.”

I like a nice surprise. I don’t want to know what comes next until it happens. I take each page and chapter as they come.”