CHAPTER 44
CHAPTER 44: THE MEMORY BOX
One rainy afternoon, Ella found the wooden box.
"What's this?"
I looked up.
"Family history."
She sat beside me and opened it carefully.
The letters.
The photographs.
The drawings.
She touched each item as though it were something precious.
"Can I put something inside?"
I smiled.
"Of course."
She ran to her room and returned with a tiny seashell from the lake.
"Why this?"
She thought for a moment.
"Because I was happy that day."
I looked at the shell.
Then at her.
"That's a very good reason."
A few minutes later, my mother walked into the room.
"What are you two doing?"
"We're adding memories."
She sat beside us.
Then she reached into her pocket.
She placed something in the box.
The note from New Year's.
More mornings with my family.
I looked at her.
"You kept it."
"Of course."
She smiled.
"I got my wish."
I couldn't speak.
Because she had.
We all had.
More mornings.
More dinners.
More laughter.
More time.
The box closed gently.
A little heavier than before.
May you like
A little fuller.
Just like our hearts.
