When Connection is a Blessing
I am lucky. I enjoy my friends. I love my friends. I don’t have a whole bunch of them, and I like that too.
They are as diverse and varied as the flowers in Spring. In fact, a few are so different from each other that some of my friends don't really like each other..does that sound weird? All that matters is that I do!
I think each friendship has a place in my heart, and I hope me for them as well.
Recently one of my dear ones passed away. Barbara would have been 90 this year (I told you they were diverse.) I drove Barbara home from church once per month. A few years ago she had moved 30 miles away to be close to her wonderful family, but she enjoyed coming back to visit with her church family, where she and her husband had worshiped and served for years.
Our group of drivers were called “Team Barbara” and we all had our own special relationship with her. I found her refreshing and wise, and I grew to look forward to our time in the car. I had questions. Our discussions touched on any number of topics. Life, families, hamburgers, faith, children, forgiveness, dogs, politics, death, hikes and her famous lemon meringue pie. I think what I mostly loved about Barbara was her grateful heart.
She would repeatedly say lucky SHE was to have these people to drive her to church once per month. A wise and down-to-earth personality, she was humble, laughed easily and made you feel grateful too. She was a lot like my own mother, Betty, who I lost 15 years ago, and have yet to meet an equal.
“How lucky am I to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.” -Winnie the Pooh
Indeed. Today I reflect, get a little teary, and I honor this “season.” Barbara would be the first to say, “I had a really good time, now, let's move on.” So that’s what I’ll do, in gratitude for the warmth and inspiration she was to me and so many others.
Do you have a Barbara in your life? I hope you do. I’ll bet you do. Cultivate opportunities to share a bit of yourself with them. These “seasons” come to an end, as they all do, the song “For Good” from the musical Wicked says it best:
“I do believe I have been changed for the better and because I knew you I have been changed For good” -Stephen Schwartz
Thank you Barbara.