Thank God for the Memories

July 17, 2024

The date was January 10, 2013. I’d just spent the last two days at the hospital with my aunt, who was almost 90-years old. I got called at my home about an hour and a half away because she had been admitted into the hospital and we weren’t sure what was wrong.

During that extended stay, I watched as she went through test after test. It was a difficult time because my aunt had a chemical imbalance in her body that caused her to experience hallucinations and delusions.

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Hallucinations and delusions are often grouped together when talking about various illnesses or conditions, but they’re not the same. While both of them are part of a false reality, a hallucination is a sensory perception, and a delusion is a false belief.

For instance, hallucinations can involve seeing someone who isn’t there or hearing people talking when there is no one around. Delusions, on the other hand, can involve someone thinking they are a celebrity when they’re not, for example.[1]

I didn’t really understand all that was going on as I sat by her bed and tried to comfort her. She believed that everything she either saw, heard, or felt was real, and clearly they were not. It was scary for me because I couldn’t tell whether she was remembering things or imagining them.

After she got the right medicines and the imbalance was straightened out, she couldn’t remember what had happened. I suppose that was a good thing and I never shared with her exactly what she had said and done. She returned to the assisted living facility where she lived, and I was relieved that she was on the mend.

That hospital experience put me in nostalgic mood, so on my way home I stopped by a small barbecue restaurant where my family had enjoyed many meals with my grandma and my aunt. As I stepped out of the restaurant to get into my truck, I noticed a gentleman sitting on the bench. I didn’t know him and way out of character for me, I asked him if he ate there often.

He told me he did and had been eating at that restaurant since 1966. We talked about my family and our ties to the small town. It surprised me that he knew my aunt and told me how friendly she was. He didn’t know her well, but that was okay. I think at that moment, I just needed to hear that others were impacted by her exactly the way I had known her for so many years. He then gave me permission to take his picture.

Paul tells us through a short sentence the power of remembering people. In his case, it was a group of believers on Philippi. The believers were part of a church Paul had started on his second missionary journey. Here’s what he said as he wrote to these believers.

“I thank my God every time I remember you.” (Philippians 1:3, NIV)

There are so many people I could say this about. My aunt is one of them. She passed away at the age of 92 in late 2016. I pray you have people around you that cause you to say the same words as Paul.

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[1] https://www.healthline.com/health/mental-health/hallucinations-vs-delusions#differences