Life is What Happens

Aunt Nina and her friend Anna, May 2010 at her "Senior" prom

Yesterday as I sat with 18 of my Aunts friends having lunch, I realized how fortunate my Aunt really was during her life. I am not sure if Aunt Nina even realized that all of these people held her in their hearts and cared how she was doing. As a matter of fact, I wonder if any of us know how cared about and loved we are. It is so easy to get so caught up in the everyday happenings of life that we forget that life is happening for everyone else and that we are all still part of the big picture.

 Life has a funny way of reminding us that we are a small cog in a big wheel, for me having my friends to lean on, talk to and spend time with helps keep that big wheel of life a more reasonable size for me to handle. There were all different types of people at my Aunt's memorial luncheon, some knew each other and some did not, but they were all there because they knew one person and cared about her. That in its self is amazing, many of them played Bridge with my Aunt or went to church with her or some did both. There were a couple of neighbors and a few random lifelong friends and then of course Mark and I represented her family. We were all part of what I hope made my Aunts last few difficult years of life a little easier to handle… well us and of course her chocolate ice cream.

 I was talking with a friend recently and we were sharing our concern about another friend and wondering why she has pulled back from our friendship and our group of friends. We feel that perhaps for her it is more comfortable to deal with her life and whatever she is dealing with on her own and maybe it makes her uncomfortable sharing with us when times are tough. The hard part is we still worry about her and want to help her by listening to her worries and concerns, but that is just not her style. The only thing we can do is stand here waiting in the wings, knowing that we all deal with things differently and praying that our friend knows that we are on the sidelines ready to listen if she ever needs us.

 No one person lives life the same as another. We all have different thoughts and feelings. Some ride the wave and live happy go lucky with a smiling face for all they meet. Others like me turn their lives over and over looking at it from every angle trying to understand each and every nuance, hoping to get every step right and still others just plod along making their way as best they can and hoping to one day catch a break. I guess in the end after life has happened to each of us, all we can hope for is that our family and a few great friends will take the time to remember us and love us in spite of our faults and because of who we were. Although we are the engineer of the train the passengers really help make all the difference in the ride.