I recently spent the evening out with friends. \u00a0I know for most people this is not news,\u00a0 it is however for me not something I do so very often.
\nYet this occasion was for very dear friends, and a celebration of love –\u00a0 and those two things combined, have me hook line and sinker!
\nThe only issue for me here, (as I have written about many times) is being a rather shy-ish type person,\u00a0 I am abominable at small talk.\u00a0 I mean, listening to or adding something to a deeper conversation..\u00a0 I\u2019m in,\u00a0 but the initial dreaded –\u00a0 \u2018think of something to say here to make this feel less awkward\u2019\u00a0 –\u00a0 I got nothin\u2019.\u00a0 The horrible part of this is, it often makes me feel like the person involved probably wonders why they stopped to talk to me ..\u00a0 at all.<\/p>\n
Having said all that,\u00a0 I try to not let this stop me from ever socializing,\u00a0 as I do really enjoy the company of friends ..\u00a0 especially good friends, or indeed good friends – to be.\u00a0 I marvel at and am comforted by the connection of hearts and minds, and the genuineness of souls who show themselves.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m thinking about this today as I begin a new book.\u00a0 A biography that even though I am not very far in,\u00a0 already has me so very glad that this lovely book has found me.\u00a0 I read a lot of non-fiction. My favourite genre being biography and memoir.\u00a0 I like learning from people and about people and just how it is they themselves navigate life. \u00a0\u00a0As I suppose, I am always learning how to navigate my own. (aren\u2019t we all!?!)<\/p>\n
I\u2019m thinking about sitting with my friend the other night talking and laughing hysterically.\u00a0 Granted we have both consumed a little too much wine, but really we are just enjoying the comfort of a very long friendship.\u00a0 Friends together since barely in our teens,\u00a0 we now relate as wives, as mothers and also as daughters and sisters and the constant navigation of all these avenues.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m thinking about other influential women in my life who I have spent time with and felt a great connection to in a profound sort of way.\u00a0 My husband\u2019s Aunt Tina, who welcomed me very early on in the relationship with my then boyfriend and instantly I felt like somehow we already knew each other, and that I had been loved by her for many, many years.
\nA time I spent one on one with my Aunt Gayle, really listening to and recognizing her – a very intelligent, thinking and funny person – \u00a0in a whole new way and really appreciating her.
\nA moment of time I have written about before of standing in the kitchen at the Home Farm,\u00a0 with my three Aunts \u2013 Maureen, Annice and Phyllis, after many years, me no longer a child \u2013 but as an adult, recognizing these lovely women as sisters, as mothers, \u00a0as daughters ..\u00a0 just like me,\u00a0 and talking to me,\u00a0 just like I..\u00a0 was one of them.\u00a0 (the blessing of this, I can still feel)<\/p>\n
A time I spent working with my then best friend\u2019s mother, (again one on one) who related to me not as Mrs. Jeffrey,\u00a0 but instead as Sharon and talked to me about challenges in life, and the early years of being a new wife and mother, years before I was ready to experience either.\u00a0 Then last year, attending her funeral and again thanking her for all that she had been to me.<\/p>\n
Of course my dear Aunt Pat, who really became a very important person in my life, our mutual unwavering love and support bolstered both of us,\u00a0 just when we needed it most.\u00a0 In later years of her life, through stories, wisdom and very real friendship, she made sure I think, to give me enough to sustain me even now, \u00a0after she is gone.<\/p>\n
I suppose what I am rambling about here is again just a way to say Thank you, what I am thinking about \u2026
\nIs the sharing of our stories
\nconnections, \u00a0open genuine-ness, \u00a0friendship and
\nlove
\nbraving waters, spanning divides, touching hearts
\nin simple,
\ncomfortable ways
\ntimes that might otherwise go
\nunnoticed<\/p>\n
and to you,\u00a0 who connect with me
\nhere
\nor at any step along the way
\nmy appreciation
\nand always
\nmy gratitude<\/p>\n
as anytime I come to spilling out the contents of my heart
\nit is always here,\u00a0 I can find you ..
\n(and me)
\nas each make up a part of all things that sustain me
\nin my own
\nnavigation of sorts<\/p>\n
and so I wander\u2026\u00a0 \u00a0\u2665<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I recently spent the evening out with friends. \u00a0I know for most people this is not news,\u00a0 it is however for me not something I do so very often. Yet this occasion was for very dear friends, and a celebration…
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