His Amnesia Forgot Only Me

Synopsis

My husband, Michael Rivers, suffered from a progressive memory disorder. At its worst, his memory reset every few minutes without warning. To keep his life functioning, I prepared reminder cards every day. They told him who he was, who I was, and what day it was. Michael said marrying me had been the luckiest decision of his life. On Christmas Eve, my mom had a heart attack. I urged Michael to get the car, but he disappeared for half an hour. By the time the ambulance arrived, my mom was already gone. The grief was so overwhelming that I lost our baby, too. Michael collapsed in front of me, sobbing uncontrollably. He said, "It's my fault. My memory failed me. I couldn't remember where the car was, and I even forgot what I was supposed to do. "Sarah, I'm so sorry. I deserve to die." Friends and relatives tried to comfort me. They said his memory loss meant he had not done it on purpose. Enduring the pain that tore through my chest, I chose to forgive him. On the day of my mom's funeral, a local viral post popped up on my phone. It read: [For ten years, he never missed our annual Christmas snow date.] The woman, Emily Foster, had shared a picture online of Michael tenderly brushing the snow out of her hair.