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They ’re gone now .
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I stood in the driveway and watched my grown children drive off into the distance .
I looked down the road until I could no longer see their vehicles .
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“ They live way too far away from me , ” I said to myself .
“ When did they grow up and become parents of small children ?
Should n’t that be me ? ”
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I slipped back inside the house and just walked through the rooms for no reason in particular .
I was just missing them already and looking for signs of their having been here .
There were pillows on the floor where they had been tossed from the couch and a few stuffed animals lying around where the children had been playing .
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I smiled at the little fingerprints on my mirror .
I did n’t wipe them off .
I thought back to the time when I tried so hard to keep the fingerprints off the mirrors and doors when my children were small .
Now , I wanted the tiny fingerprints to stay so that I could see them there just a little longer .
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As I walked around the house , I picked up a few items on the floor and straightened a chair .
I decided to sort through the toy box and I found a flying dinosaur , a skeleton , and a Frankenstein that had mysteriously taken up residence in my box of toys .
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I walked into the kitchen and there on the back of the sink was a bottle brush that had been left behind .
“ Ah , even Tessa left something behind , ” I announced .
Well , I suppose she had help since she was just four months old .
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“ I wonder what else has been left behind , ” I said out loud to no one in particular .
My husband heard me and joined the search for things left behind .
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It seems like every time our family gets together something is left behind .
When I call my children to tell them what they have left behind I am usually told , “ Oh , just bring it when you come , ” “ Keep it for me until I come back the next time , ” or “ Hey , I really need that , would you mind mailing it to me ? ”
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“ Oh look !
Here ’s Tegan ’s tooth , ” I said to my husband as I picked up a ziplock bag with her name engraved on it .
Tegan had a loose tooth and had managed to wiggle it out earlier in the day .
“ Now , she ca n’t put it under her pillow .
I wonder if it will work if I put it under my pillow .
The Tooth Fairy is going to be so confused ! ”
I laughed .
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I walked on around the house finding more things that had been left behind : a toothbrush , a ponytail band , an angel figurine , a pie pan , a frozen teething ring in the freezer , and last but not least the insides of a turkey fryer .
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I was really kind of enjoying myself .
It gave me something to do , after they left , to take my mind off missing them .
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Then my eyes teared up as I noticed the baby outfit beside the sink where it had been left to dry after spots had been scrubbed out of it .
The little outfit , now stain free , reminded me of the trip to the emergency room with Rowan due to a gash on her head that was caused from a flower pot pulled over by her curious little fingers .
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“ Hmmm , things left behind … ” I pondered to myself .
It seems there is one thing that is left behind on every occasion .
Memories are always left behind , I reasoned , and what a precious thing good memories are to us .
I thought how each item left behind reminded me of the person it belonged to and the story surrounding it .
The insides of the turkey fryer that was left behind reminded me of the delicious Thanksgiving meal that we all enjoyed .
The empty pie pan reminded me of Katie ’s delicious pies .
The angel figurine reminded me of the white elephant gift exchange game that we play every year .
Even the bad memory of Rowan ’s injury reminded me of how frightened I was at the sound of her cry .
It is a bad memory that turned into a good one as it reminded us of how precious little Rowan is to us .
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Memories happen even if we are n’t aware of it .
The stressful and difficult moments often become memories that we look back on later with laughter and joy .
They are the stories of the future when one day someone will say , “ Remember when … ? ” , and everyone laughs .
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Then , of course , there are some memories that need to be left behind .
The memories of past hurts , unforgiveness , bitterness , and anger should be left behind forever .
These are the things that we should never keep until the next time , mail back , or bring with us to our next visit .
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Yes , I stood in the driveway and watched my grown children drive off into the distance
and I remembered my own parents once doing the same thing .
I never knew then that I would one day be the one waving from the driveway and feeling my heart drive off down the road .
That ’s because there is one more thing besides memories left behind and that is love .
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As Elizabeth Stone said , “ To have a child is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body . ”