Dear me,

'It's all in your mind. It's because you're getting old,' Laurie repeated to herself. She was, after all, reaching the tender age of 72 and lately, nothing seemed to be right. She didn't understand why her house was constantly flooded with strangers. She didn't understand why she always felt something was missing. 'It's just Old Time catching up to me. I'm acting silly.' With a tired sigh, Laurie slowly but surely gripped her fingers tightly around a pen that was lying around and lined the tip up to a piece of paper.

'Dear me,

You don't remember many things, and I don't know why. As of tomorrow, you will be 72 years old. I just want to wish you a Happy Birthday! It seems like it was just yesterday when Allie-' Laurie stopped writing.

'Why did I write Allie?' she wondered. She didn't recall anyone named Allie. Feeling a little dazed, Laurie crossed off the sentence she had just written. She then stared at the pen her hand. 'What is this? What am I doing with a pen? I must be going bonkers.' After briefly coaxing her unwilling knees, Laurie decided to clear the air with a stroll.

As Laurie slowly shuffled along the carpeted hallway, a younger woman bumped into her and dropped the name tag she was about to stick on. 'Hi! I'm looki-' the young woman abruptly took in a short breath and stared. Laurie curiously looked at the stranger. 'Sweetie, you dropped your name tag.' She bent down and picked it up. 'Oh! What a silly coincidence. Just today, I ...' she trailed off furrowing her brows. 'Where did I see this name again?'

'Oh.' The young woman teared up and gently grabbed the name tag from Laurie. She stepped back a couple steps, as if afraid of something. Slowly brushing the back of her hands against her misty eyes, she blubbered, 'I-I miss you. They told me not to come, but I-'

'Why, come where? What are you talking about? You're-' Laurie frowned. She didn't remember. Did she know this woman standing in front of her? There was a twinge of familiarity, but nothing rang a bell. 'Sorry honey, I must've bumped into you because of my clumsiness! Please excuse me. I don't know what ... I don't-' Laurie continued to mumble as she slowly made her way down the hall.

Allie's hands wouldn't stop shaking when she brought them up to her mouth to cover her impending sobs. Her Mother had forgotten her face and her name. With every further step that Laurie took away from her, a bigger piece of her heart chipped away. 'It's okay. It's okay,' she chanted as her body started to hyperventilate. When her knees finally gave out on her, she reminisced back to the days where her Mother would smile and say, 'It'll be okay Allie Pie. I will always hold your hand because nothing has the power to come between the love that I have for you.'