“The heart, like the mind, has a memory. And in it are kept the most precious keepsakes.” ― Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

I remember the year was 1989.

It was the first time I had ever been so far from home, traveling to a remote village nearly half a world away.

And though I was surrounded by such a breathtaking beauty – of wild orchids clinging to rocky shelves, and ‘hidden’ waterfalls destined to serve the forest graces – I couldn’t see past my own sense of longing. I was missing that which I’d felt had left me.

I couldn’t stand to be ‘this far’ away from home – 4, 852 miles to be exact. And, I felt every single last one of them, too. At night, I’d stare into the darkness – thinking of all those memories being created without me there.

Everything seemed so far away. I felt so lost, so alone, and so terribly afraid.

After all, my family was ‘there’, and I was ‘here.’

I must have cried nearly every evening. And then one night, I had a call from home.

“Why are you so sad,” my father asked.

And, in one long, drawn tearful breath, I began to tell him everything I missed – the creek, the trees, the family meals; the Sunday drives, the evening treats. The way the towels smelled ‘straight from the dryer’ – soft and sweet, like Dogwood flowers. And, did you know there were no winters here?

My list was endless, it seemed.

But then my father, always knowing just the right thing to say asked, “Can you see the moon? Because, I can see it, too.”

And, just like that – those miles collapsed. As, those that we love are with us, always.

They’re in the soft glow of the moon’s gentle reach; and the swirling patterns of waves breaking to beach—they are tucked away in all those spaces that bring our hearts peace.

“It is like a lighted torch,” the Buddha once said. “whose flame can be distributed to ever so many other torches.”

And, don’t you know – their light can never be extinguished?

In that respect—how can we ever miss that which is always there? These treasured keepsakes—never so far away.

“Be still, sad heart! and cease repining;
Behind the clouds is the sun still shining”

Can you see the moon, my darlings?

Because, guess what? I can see it, too.