“Ms. Lillie!”
The nurse entered the room calling her name.
No reply.
“Now, Ms. Lillie, why are you over there by yourself
looking out that old window? You should
be down in the rec room with the other folks.
You’re missing a great Valentine’s party!”
No response.
Lillian didn’t move, she just stared through the blinds.
Bobbie had seen Ms. Lillie slowly withdraw over the past two years. She had even stopped
coming to meals with the other residents.
Day after day, season after season, she sat here in her chair without a
word.
“Yes, Ma’am, Ms. Lillie,” the nurse spoke as she
changed the bed, “your friends are down there having cake and…” she suddenly
stopped as Lillian swept past her, walking slowly to the closet. Bobbie saw the frail woman reach as high as
she could, but she lost her balance and stumbled back.
“Careful, Ms. Lillie! We can’t have you falling and
breaking bones! Why don’t you just tell
me what you need, and I’ll try to find it for you.” Bobbie was cradling her and speaking softly.
Lillian pointed her finger up toward the highest
shelf, and Bobbie stood high on her tiptoes.
She couldn’t see anything, but her fingers finally found the prize. Gently, she brought it down, and Lillian’s
listless eyes came alive.
Sitting down in her chair, both hands motioned for
Bobbie to bring her the box, covered in dust.
The sides were bulging and only seemed to be held together by a single
red, velvet ribbon tied loosely around it.
“Is this what you were looking for, Ms. Lillie?” Bobbie asked as she wiped off the dust and placed the box in the
woman’s lap. “Looks like you’ve had this
for years.”
Carefully, Lillian untied the ribbon and lifted the
lid. With eyes twinkling, joy swept over
the wrinkled face. She shuffled through
the box’s contents, letting them slide through her fingertips.
“Was this box filled with money?” Bobbie thought as she watched. Lillian’s eyes met the young nurse’s, and
Bobbie stepped over to her side. Why,
this was a box of hearts…every size, shape, and color. Some were made of paper, while others were
cloth, metal, and wooden. There were
beaded hearts and some that had been crocheted with yarn. Lillian sorted through them, pausing…to rub
each one between her thumb and fingers.
“These are my love memories,” Lillian whispered. Bobbie almost fell over. She’d not heard the woman speak in
months…maybe even a year. “Each one
reminds me of a special moment in my life when I truly felt loved.” And she rubbed a wrinkled and stained linen
heart against her cheek.
“I cut this heart from the hankie I carried on my
wedding day. Did you see the flowers I
embroidered on it?” Lillian held it out
for Bobbie to see. The young woman was
spellbound, but she nodded.
The older woman’s stiff fingers found something else,
and she she gasped, “Why…look at this!”
Lillian proudly displayed a crinkled aluminum heart. “My MaMaw used to bake pies in the old tin
that I got this from.” Lillian licked
her lips, and Bobbie could just see her tasting that creamy chocolate. They both giggled.
“Mama let me have this one after Daddy died,” Lillian held
her head high, and looked directly into Bobbie’s eyes and urged her to touch
the piece of khaki wool. “It was part of
my daddy’s uniform. He died in France
Lillian’s eyes and hands searched the contents once
again. “Oh…” she almost squealed with
delight as she lifted a red-flocked, heart-shaped card. Bobbie noticed that much of the flocking had
been rubbed away. “Jimmy bought me this
when our daughter was born…February 14th, 1939. That was such a beautiful day!” She began to hum a tune as she returned to
her memories.
Bobbie was speechless!
The silent, frail woman that she’d cared for the past couple of years,
had come alive, reliving a life of love in a musty old box of hearts. Lillian thrust a velvet box into Bobbie’s
lap. Bobbie carefully pried open the heart and
found a little ring inside. Lillian took
the ring, placed it on her finger, and held it up before her so she could
see. “My husband proposed to me on
Christmas morning, 1937. We didn’t have
much,” Lillian shook her head, “but he’d found this ring in a box of
Crackerjacks. It was perfect…just
perfect!”
“What about this one, Ms. Lillie?” Bobbie had spied a tattered, red doily that had
been taped together far too many times. She held it out for her.
Lillian gently took it and pulled it to her chest for
a long moment. Then, she put down the
box and turned toward the window, as the heart floated to the floor. Once again, she entered into her world of
silence, lost in memories.
Bobbie brushed a tear from her cheek as she collected
the box and placed it on a bedside table.
Where did Ms. Lillie go? Bobbie
knew that for just a few moments, she’d been invited into a secret place where
a woman’s lovely memories displayed an amazing life which had been locked away
behind clouds of confusion and dementia.
She longed to know more, but she’d have to wait for a very special time
to enter once again.
As she tidied up the room, the door swung open, and a
small girl peeked inside and tiptoed over to where the frail woman sat. A gray-haired woman in her mid-seventies
followed. The child knelt beside
Lillian’s chair and carefully took her hand, whispering, “Nana Lillie, here is
a new lovie for your box!” She placed a
golden heart locket into Lillian’s open palm and popped it open to reveal a
picture of the precious great-granddaughter who was by her side. Lillian brought her hand to her face and
squinted to examine the new treasure.
The girl moved directly in front of her nana, cupping her face with her small hands and
looked deeply into her eyes. “I
love you, Nana!”
Lillian’s hand rose and touched the child’s cheek as
she smiled and spoke, “And I love you, Madolyn.
Let’s put this in my box of lovies.”
She slowly stood from the chair and walked toward
the table where Bobbie had placed the box.
As she did, she grasped the hand of the woman who came in with Madolyn
and softly squeezed it. Without meeting
her eyes, Lillian spoke under her breath, “And…happy birthday to you, Val!” They both smiled.
Bobbie closed the door without a sound. She smiled and hummed a familiar tune as she
entered the next room. She would never
take a person’s silence for granted again…for behind every heart is a story
that longs to be opened.
And, by the way, Bobbie is still collecting loviesJ
