Woven into Memory

I've been doing a lot of thinking about how much Lyme Disease has affected every aspect of my life over the course of this crazy, turbulent year. Never in my wildest dreams could I ever have imagined the things I would go through in a single year: the pain, the tears, the love, the laughter, the joy, the growth. Every single feeling I have felt over this year has been amplified by the intensity of this illness.

I've had to reorganize my life in a way that is no longer recognizable as the life that I was living only a year ago. I've had to let go of many dreams. This beautiful quote by Helen Keller has been like a salve to my wounds this year: “When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.”

Make no mistake, there is much pain behind closing a door. But if you look closer, there is beauty. A door closed is not a door forgotten; for it is only when it is closed that it can become woven into a cherished memory. As I laid down to sleep last night, I was overcome by a flood of the most precious memories I have ever known, each one given to me like a gift during this painful year of my life. Each memory was like a beautiful pearl shining just for me at the bottom of a raging sea; each one, like a rainbow put in the sky just for me after a very powerful storm.