Memories

Yesterday a good friend of ours (my sisters & I) posted a status on Facebook that got me thinking.  She posted about my brother, who passed away almost 16 years ago now.  Jenn has known us her whole life and is BFF's with my youngest sister.  And to make the connection even closer, her brother was one of Wendall's best friends.  Quite the connection I'd say.

Jenn posted about how she remembered him because he told her how pretty she looked when she curled her hair.  That was one of the last things he said to her and she thinks about that every time she curls her hair.  It started this whole thread of memories that other people had about my brother.  It was really sweet to hear all the things that people had to say about him and how much he meant to them.

One of my most favorite memories of him (and I promise it is funny, even though it may not sound like it at first) was when he came out of his last surgery.  He'd been in ICU and couldn't talk because he had a collapsed lung.  He was sitting in a chair and when I walked in, he was sitting there in a pink and gray gown with circulation hose on his legs.  I looked at him and said, "Nice gown, now all you need is a pink handbag and pumps!"  Without missing a beat, he just looked at me and gave me the finger!  I don't know why but I still laugh every time I think about that!  Even when he wasn't feeling well, he still had a great sense of humor.

But back to the reason for this post - as I was reading all the things that people said, it made me think about the kind of impact he had on people and I was left wondering if I have that same impact on people?  If I were gone tomorrow, what would people say about me?  Would it be positive?  Or would the negative outweigh the positive?  Would the last thing I say to them be such a postive memory?  Even the I've been struggling recently, my hope is that as I move forward, I can change my circumstances into something positive and some day waaaaay down the road, when I'm no longer here....people will have the same kind of memories about me that they have about Wendall.