This diary entry is part 4 of 11 in Lily's diary dated 01 - July 2021

Hi again!  It’s me, Lily!

I found a pic of me and Liz.  There’s not much of a background because we were in one of those photobooth things.  We took it very soon after things started to reopen.  I think it really captures us nicely!  Liz likes to dress nicely, she is always wearing a nice blouse and beautiful skirts and shoes.  Me, that’s my favorite dress, and I wear it all the time (Not when I go running, though.) Liz is the bubblier of the two of us, I’m much more steady, I think.  Maybe not having many experiences I can remember is helpful.

Last night we watched “Monty Python and the Holy Grail”.  It was funny, but very silly.  Dave thinks the reason I didn’t like “Blazing Saddles” so much was because it had a lot of old things that I didn’t understand – both because I’m young and because I don’t have memories that would help them make sense.  He explained that Mel Brooks was lampooning some things from the ’70s and earlier that were a terrible thing, and I didn’t understand that it was a parody.  So don’t be too hard on me!

After the movie and the younger children went to bed, Dave and Sabby and I talked for a while.  They said it’s okay for me to post what we talked about, so I will.  I asked them why they took me in.

They were quiet for a little while.  Finally Sabby said, “Do you know why we go to church every Sunday?”

I was confused.  “To..  worship God?”

“Well,” she said, “That’s one reason, I suppose.  But the real reason is that it’s not fair.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s not fair,” she said, with a little venom in her voice.  I’d never heard her like this.  “It’s not fair that we all have to live in this world when it sometimes sucks so badly.  It has good things, true, but…”

She was quiet.  I didn’t feel comfortable talking right then.

“We go to church because we want to know.  We want to know why life is sometimes so good and sometimes hurts so much.  We don’t have many places to go for answers, so we go to church.  We ask you to go too, because, maybe you can find an answer there for yourself.”

“But what does that have to do with why you took me in?”

Sabby was quiet again.  “Because it’s not fair to you either.  You didn’t ask to lose your memory.  You didn’t ask to be found on the side of the road.  You didn’t ask for any of this.  What would have happened to you?  Maybe you would have found a good family.  Maybe you wouldn’t have been taken advantage of.”  She smiled.  “But you’ll never know.  That’s why we took you in.  Because it wasn’t fair.”

“I don’t understand.”

She gave me a big hug.  “You don’t have to.  Maybe you will in time.  Go to bed,” she said, gently.  “You’ve got a big day tomorrow.”

“But I’ve got nothing big planned!”, I protested.

“You’re going to wake up, and you’re going to live through the day.  That seems like a big day to me.”

I couldn’t argue with that.  So I went to bed.  And I had a hard time sleeping.  I was thinking about what could have happened to me.  I don’t know why I lost my memory, and it hurts sometimes.  But I guess it all worked out.  I love Dave and Sabby with all my heart.  I hope they never break it.

Well, that’s a downer.  I can’t be a happy girl every day, right?  But she’s right.  It’s a big day.  I have all my chores done, I got in my run, so after I shower, I guess I’ll find something useful to do.  I’ve been thinking about learning how to make videos on YouTube, maybe I’ll give that a try.

Love you all!!!  ❤️