I have been blessed with having many friends who knew me 30 plus years ago, and whether God suffers fools, I’ve been very lucky, or my bill is coming due soon, for some reason recent events placed me in a position where faces from the past have come to roost, and a delayed dinner invitation came back to haunt me as a lovely woman and wife of a very close friend dies suddenly. The very next day I meet an old coworker (although I’m the old one as she would likely point out) and her daughter as she runs 10 kilometers for the fun of it and is joined by about 100 others, I meet her darling daughter who is very much like her mom and Grandma is along and it is strange to see three generations out for a stroll and shared time. My family is pretty tight but not three generations, but it is more a function of age as there was a time when I was a child that the closeness was there before was convinced that my ancestors did not descend from Spain, but from somewhere beyond the andromeda galaxy.. I say that not in a derogatory manner because all families are convinced they are the strangest, and many have their tales to tell. My family runs strangeness par excellence and I only know 15% of the stories and the real stories will never be told due to death. I have this bizarre fantasy that once the main actors have passed a sacred document with the chronology of the family secrets, with space for my generation to add on to it.
Alas it ain’t gonna happen! This week I was reminded at a mini 30th reunion of how people I barely knew 30 years ago meant to me and of the opportunity I missed by not so much toeing the line but by not appreciation the opportunities that were presented to me, and my antiestablishment behavior was wasted on adults who only (for the most part) wanted the best for me both spiritually and emotionally. My behavior was a necessary step, for had I not taken the leap to boarding school, I might have followed a path of total self annihilation. My two years there are the fondest memories I have, an encapsulation of insanity, fears, tears, laughter, and a gift of Love for life and shared experiences that are priceless.
I write this while admitting I have always been “hefty”, as a kid I was “husky” “Husky plus”, in HS I was elegantly plump. Now I am a load but I have yo-yo’s about 25 lbs the last 10 years. While looking at fotos from the 20th I discovered that I still have some of the same shirts and they were loose there now they are a little tighter and while there must be some shrinkage, there is expansion taking place. It is only noteworthy because I have joined the diabetes club recently and the doctor and dentist told me it is time for change, before the damage is irreversible. It is strange when someone dies within 6 degrees of separation I get the “You really need to take care of yourself”
So for the 38th consecutive year I will take the pledge
This Year I have a Kitty at my side
