Cherished Friendships ~

This last Friday I spent the day and night with a High School 

friend I had not seen in 39 years.   

Mary (Beth) on the left, myself on the right.

The photo was taken in our sewing class, we were looking through a pattern book :-)

Needless to say there was a lot of ground to cover when we reunited.

When I pulled up to the condo (on the beach), she hopped in the car to guide me to 

the underground parking.  My first words to her were,

 " so I'm thinking, if neither of us wear our glasses, we'll still look the same".  

Once in the condo "our stories" began.

I was aware, prior to our reuniting that her brother and best friend Dennis had died suddenly just seven months prior. 

There was so much about the last 39 years to hear.

Some was very hard to share...

What I didn't know is, she had witnessed the motorcycle accident of a dear friend.

What I didn't know is, for many years she has been caring for their Mom who has Alzheimer's.

What I didn't know was, 48 hours prior to receiving the news of her brother's passing,

she had lost the love of her life, her boyfriend of 10 years, just as suddenly.

It broke my heart when she felt she should be able to speak of this with out tears,

 that she felt she should be further along in this process of loss.

I, was keenly aware instantly of why God has brought us together.

 This reunion was not by chance, and I told her so.  

I knew of this place she is currently in, she is still in that place known as surreal.

She seemed surprised, relieved that I knew the word to describe her last 7 months.

Our situations different in many ways, with me it was  the loss of my Father and Mother.

What wasn't different was entering that place known as surreal.

My heart broke for her loss, for the emotion she still carried that needed to be released.

I assured her, she was expecting way to much to think that in 7 short months she would 

be able to make it through a day without tears of grief.

I tried to assure her, it's different for everyone.  I shared that for me after the loss of my Dad, that place known as surreal was my address for 2 years.
 I was a mess, and it had to be okay.  

It was the time required for me to grieve properly. 

It needed to be done prior to resuming my life,

a changed life, but it did resume.

We did have a such a special time.  We went through our high school yearbook, which of course spurred many memories, to say the least.  

Our evening ended at 3:00 A.M., and even then,

there was so much to say. 

 We had breakfast that morning and enjoyed some more conversation of days past.

 We then hugged goodbye, promised we'd do it again and we each headed for home. 

Each in a little different place than where we were when our visit started.

I'm so looking forward to seeing her again,

 to being a part of each others lives, 

again.

~

Prior to my time on the beach, I was informed a childhood friend who actually lived across the street from me has been diagnosed with ovarian cancer.

  Debbie is 55 years old and is very strong in her faith.

Upon my return home, a high school friend sent me a message and shared with me that his Mother Emma has been diagnosed with multi melanoma.

This morning I couldn't help but wake up feeling fortunate and blessed.

I'm experiencing the good that follows the bad.  

Because of my experience with loss, worry and fear, God is using me to comfort others. 

 I know of what they speak.

I've been to that place known as surreal.
 I know that we do come back from it.

I'm asking each of you to pray for my grieving friend Mary,

to pray for my sweet friend Debbie and her family,

to pray for my friend Dave, his Mother Emma and their entire family.

Pray that God will use me in a big way to love each of them

 through whatever lie ahead. 

Hoping to be a comfort, is what echos from my heart today.