The People I Have in My Life

We always have a turnover rate of people who come and go in our lives. I think it’s exciting to meet new people. I hate losing family and friends though. Right now I feel so blessed with the people in my life. The people closest to me are my daughter, grandsons, son-in-law, my cousins next door, my aunt down the road, my aunt who is the same age as me, my uncle (her husband), my friend in Idaho, my cruising friend, my bridge walking friends, and on and on. I bet if you think about it, you have friends that you never really thought that you have. Yes, I’m meeting some new friends. I don’t know how some of those friendships will work out, but I’m having fun in the meantime. I saw a picture of my first mother-in-law on face book tonight and the memories started streaming back into my mind. She was always so good to me. I first knew her when I was 16. The last time I saw her was right before she died. After I divorced, I felt like I shouldn’t see her and I waited until one day I knew she was by herself. She hugged and hugged me and asked me why I had not been coming to see her. I told her she had a new daughter-in-law. She told me I would always be her daughter-in-law, and she told me how much she loved me. Yes, I really loved her. The picture I saw was of her and her son. He is also gone and so is his wife. Back then, I always thought these people would be in my life forever. As we get older, we realize that we lose a lot of people we love. I had another mother-in-law that I also loved a lot. I feel fortunate to have had two really good mothers-in-law. Some people never have the one. I have a friend since we were 11 years old. Throughout the years, we have talked or seen each other every week. We’ve been through babies, deaths of our husbands, and all of the other ups and downs of life. It’s hard to believe that we know each other so well and still like each other. I don’t think we’ve ever had an angry word toward one another. I never thought that some of my friends would be widows just like me. I really don’t even like to think of myself as a widow, but I am. If we live long enough, we see a lot of things. I always thought my parents would live forever and that they would always be the strong, independent people I always knew. Well, the tables were reversed. I became the strong, independent one for them. They took care of me, and then it became my turn to take care of them. Cherish and love all your friends and family.. DR 2/21/13