FOREVER FRIENDS
For some reason, this Thanksgiving with my friends, Leslie and Becky, made me aware of how essential forever friends are to my continuing recovery.
After Lou’s death, holidays were sad because I wanted Lou with me. Joy was obscured by pain.
This Thanksgiving is different. I feel grateful. Grateful that Lou was by my side for 51 years! Grateful that his presence will always be a part of my life. The power of healing friendship!
I remember the power of friendship on the night Lou died. I called Becky in the middle of the night, and she came over immediately to wipe away my tears… through her own. And she was there to guide me through the night. Though her pain was great, and her tears were hot, her love for me was greater. The soothing power of forever friends!
Carla arrived the next day, small suitcase in hand. Though we were in the midst of the Christmas holidays, she sacrificed part of it so that I wouldn’t be alone during those first days. The power of loving forever friends!
The following week my cousin, Sharon, came up for a week from the DC area to support me through the agonizing first stages of grief… denial, blaming, bartering, etc. The power of loving family.!
Then came Leslie for another week of caring friendship! She has become a close companion.
Would I have survived as well as I have without those first three weeks of nurturing? A good question, for which I have no real answer!
In my heart, though, I know without those first three weeks of nurturing, I would not have made the gradual movement into my new life, an evolving life.
The benefits of Forever Friends… we are always there for one another. Mine are just extra special!
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