With the onset of Alzheimer's..."I just pray I won’t forget Him.”

from Catholic Womanhood...

“Oh, Lori,” an older friend of mine said to me the other night on the phone, “I just hope when I get so old and my memory goes I won’t forget...”

There was a slight pause, and she continued, “I won’t forget God. I just pray I won’t forget Him.”

My heart sank for her.

I responded immediately. “There is no way you will forget God. Grace, he will walk next to you through it all. I believe you will know He is there. Even if nothing else makes sense you will know Him.”

She responded “I hope you are right. I pray you are right Lori.”

As I hung up the phone and bounded upstairs to finish preparing dinner I had to stop and truly digest what my precious 70-year-old friend said to me. She was concerned that one day she would have Alzheimer’s disease and her memory would be gone.

I had never heard anyone say they were worried that they would forget God. This comment truly touched my soul and made me appreciate how dedicated and close my friend Grace is to God.  This is a woman who is so filled with joy that it bubbles over at all times. Her laughter is heard and welcomed by all of us. She is joy; she is the light of God in our sometimes gloomy reality. How deep her relationship with God must be!

So I pondered the thought, “could I ever forget God?” My heart believes it is impossible; for my heart beats due only to His wish that I continue to live. My vision for life and how I should live it comes from the words He places in my heart daily. My love that I give freely to my family and friends would be nothing without my relationship with Him and the example He sets for me. Without God my life would crumble and fade away.

I believe no matter what the disease, pain or anguish, I will never forget God.

“ For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8: 38-39).