Friends and Lifelines

It's another Sunday and sometimes that's all I can say about that...but as I count my blessings I think of the week I just spent, really filled with so many friends from my various circles. I also had a long conversation with a friend, who is working to mend a torn relationship with her friend, and she sought the advice of the wise one, that would be me! How I came to be so wise, I don't know, I suppose the amazing relationships that I have been blessed to have over the years, bearing the confidences of many, understanding what makes people tick, or just plain growing old, which I don't think I am always willing to accept! At any rate, I thought of this past week, this past year, this past two years and I thought of so many who have become my lifelines. Friends are certainly not with you at all times, but there must be many connections of the heart, because often, just when I am thinking of a particular person, they call, or send an e-mail, or a card. Or sometimes there is no need for any of that because we are just in the same place and we know it without even sharing words. My "lifelines" know who they are, and I wouldn't attempt to share names for fear I would leave someone special and spectacular off the list! If they don't know who they are, I hope they, too, feel the tug of their heart strings today, knowing how they keep me up, afloat, and basically surviving. Different friends serve a purpose in my life, some have so much history that they know me better than I know myself, some are that daily chat that connects me to the realities of life and her world, confirming for me, that life does keep going on, some friends bring the pot pie when my world is caving, and some call and simply say, "I love you", some send just the right trinket or note or something that "spoke" to them from hundreds of miles away, causing me to breathe in hope for just that moment, some will gather at my home because I am not ready to socialize or find myself in larger crowds, some let me know they saw the angel wing in the sky or the letter A formed by a cloud, and some call to simply say "I have no words" but I am with you, some send a sympathy card, even now, after what some would perceive as too long a period of time, some understand that I have to follow my gut and heart and take baby steps to resume my new life, some don't understand, but try, some make decisions (out of love) for me because they "think" that certain things would help me, some see the pink sunsets differently now and send a picture, some are brave enough to let the tears fall with me as they allow me to speak of a daughter who is gone from this earth, but never gone from our family, some have no expectations of me, some have a few, most will never understand this journey I now travel, but some ask how is it going, and take the time to listen, some give the gift of time and a two hour visit, or coffee or a glass of wine, some are rushed in the craziness and madness and surreal times of their own lives but have time for a one line e-mail, some I have not seen since Allison's service, and some I see more often, some never knew Allison but understand why she came into their life, some helped raise her up and loved her like their own, some don't want to imagine the devastaion of loss, so they keep going on until they, too, face a loss, and then call me, some turn away at the thought of getting together, others face their own courage and hold me tight.

ALL friends come into our lives for a reason, and I have come to know, serve as my lifeline, my glimmer of life and light, and I am blessed to have so many moments when a friend is all I need.