I Didn't See That Coming...With Gratitude and Love

 

        Nothing like putting a post on Facebook - about leaving, no less -  to realize that  that you have lots of beloved friends who love you and your home. How do connections morph out of selling your house?  

        My first reply was from Peggy who has been everything a neighbor should be for 26 years.  Our boys now in their late 20s were 3 when Peggy and her family moved in across the street.  You can count on Peggy for almost anything - cat sitting, truth telling, and baking bread.  Last night I told her, I'm not really leaving  just commuting.  Hmmmm, said Peggy, Want a glass of wine?

        Re-connecting? My Northfield roommate from Freshman year and I are having dinner next Wednesday. I think I've seen her once since 1965.  Episcopalian priest and an actor  - can't wait to hear how  she go from here to there.      

        Several of my wild and woolly Bible study sistah's  sent me lovely notes remembering a Seder that my beloved home and I hosted. I bought a set of plates and squeezed 20 people onto the first floor of my house. These ladies remember the Seder, I remember that they accompanied me to divorce court.  .  

            I heard from my sweet Cambodian daughters - who sounded a little pissed.  I have been sorting out their moving artwork drawn when they first arrived from Cambodia. They were my first guests in the house - we all slept on the kitchen floor on the second floor.  We roamed around the yard in Evanston oohing and ahing like we were in a national park.  They will always know how to find me.

        Who's that in the picture?  The Lovely Lola. She's been in this beloved home for about six years.  She lollygags on the king size bed and gazes out the window when Jim is not home. Waiting. Truthfully, she prefers Wisconsin where she imagines she is queen of the pack at Duck Pond and chases sticks in the lake.  

      Thank you all for your precious remarks and checking off that you read my first post.  I couldn't figure out how to put it on the internet so I tentatively hit the button that said Facebook. I'm glad I did.