I have lost a number of very good friends over the past couple of years.\u00a0 And I have mementoes from three of the women in my study.\u00a0 From one a rock, from another a book and the third, a pin.\u00a0 I find myself looking at their pictures, holding their remembrances, and feeling their presence in a very distinct way each time.<\/p>\n
I think of these women, and my mother too, as the angels who hover around my shoulders at good times as well as difficult times.\u00a0 And actually, I have very few difficult times any more.\u00a0 I\u2019m inclined to think it might be because I have the protection of Joy, Cate, Beverly and mom, particularly mom who shared a secret with me, one that put closure on an earlier chapter of my life and hers.\u00a0 That secret became the glue that drew us into a relationship so sweet.<\/p>\n
Having arrived at the threshold of 75 nearly takes my breath away.\u00a0 How could the years have passed so quickly.\u00a0 Death may well be 20 years from now, and I hope it is if my health holds, but most of my life has been lived.\u00a0 Regardless.\u00a0 I remember so well 2nd grade, Miss White and the point of her pencil pushing against my scull.\u00a0 I begged to get out of her classroom.\u00a0 No dice.\u00a0 And I can\u2019t forget Mr. Priest and the 6th grade picnic at his cabin on the river.\u00a0 I got the worst sunburn of my life, perhaps because I insisted on wearing the halter my mother said was too bare.<\/p>\n
I couldn\u2019t stand clothes touching my shoulders for days.\u00a0 And remembering the first bonafide date with Steve, the love of my life in high school, still makes my heart race a bit.\u00a0 Like so many other girls in the 50\u2019s, I was sure that if he and I married it would be forever.\u00a0 It was never to be, of course.\u00a0 Most high school romances come to a necessary end.<\/p>\n
All things have their end, in one respect.\u00a0 Experiences.\u00a0 People.\u00a0 Sometimes relationships too.\u00a0 I don\u2019t mean for this post to be maudlin.\u00a0 On the contrary, I think that what lies ahead in this life, or the next, will be greater than my heart or mind can currently imagine.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think of my loved ones on the other side <\/i>as shadowy figures but vibrant still, just living life in a different form.\u00a0 To some this may seem crazy, but it fills me with joy to remember Joy, her laughter, her sense of humor, the way she had of bringing dark experiences into the light of acceptance.\u00a0 We laughed with her.\u00a0 I still laugh with her when I recall some of her stories.\u00a0 And I have a strong sense that she hears me.\u00a0 I think actively remembering our loved ones who have passed into the next realm keeps them \u201cworking\u201d on our behalf.\u00a0 And I, for one, figure I need all the help I can get.<\/p>\n
What are your thoughts about dying or the dead who have passed already? \u00a0Perhaps no one has so pointedly asked you this before, but digging deep to reveal our inner thoughts in this later stage of life is good for us.\u00a0 I\u2019m sure of it.\u00a0 Do you consider the dead as \u201chelpmates\u201d for your journey here?\u00a0 I like the belief that our opportunities to help others and be helped, in return, never end. \u00a0What a delicious thought.<\/p>\n
Whom do you remember dearly?\u00a0 And why?<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I have lost a number of very good friends over the past couple of years.\u00a0 And I have mementoes from three of the women in my study.\u00a0 From one a rock, from another a book and the third, a pin.\u00a0 I find myself looking at their pictures, holding their remembrances, and feeling their presence in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-karens-musings"],"yoast_head":"\n