Vintage on line

It has been a month and a half since my Mom died and as I look around my life, I scarcely recognize it. Grieving for someone you love is difficult, but losing someone you love in a violent, senseless act is something all together different. It compounds the grief but it also brings people together. In this regard, I have been blessed beyond measure.

I suddenly find myself in the unique position of being reconnected with family and friends that I haven't seen in years. When my mom first died I was overwhelmed with the feeling of being by myself, of being an orphan. My daddy (stepdad who raised me from the age of 4) died12 years ago and now I just felt untethered. I have a brother, Chip, that I love very much, but we had not been particularly close for several years. Then things started to happen. Chip and I drew together and it was suddenly all about me and him. Just like in childhood, he became my protector and I was once again the adoring little sister. Now I have formed new stronger bonds not just with him but with cousins, my precious Auntie Lane, old friends that I had missed terribly and even my Father that I have had no contact with for 24 years. He came to my Mom's memorial and is trying so hard to make up for all the wrongs of the past. I may not have been open to his attempts under different circumstances, but feel grateful for this second chance now.

It all just takes my breath away, fills me with happiness and hope and the certainty that life is what we make it. I wish it hadn't taken something so sad to fill my life with what it had been missing. I hope that if you take anything away from what has happened in my life this summer, it will be to make time for the people you love, right the wrongs in your life and let the people you love know, without a shadow of a doubt how much they mean to you.