I attended calling hours, and the funeral of the dear father of a family of friends that I grew up with. Between my sister and I and these 5 friends, we covered lots of years in the church youth group. We have - all of us - experienced joy and happiness, trials and tribulations -- expected and unplanned. And then this. The unthinkable loss of a parent. The reunion of friends because of such a sad event. The (somewhat surprisingly) sameness of depth of caring and protective feelings for these friends -- even though life and time have separated us. It's kind of amazingly wonderful and sad at the same time.
Wonderful to know that even after so much time has separated us, that we greet one another as if it was just yesterday.
Sad because... so much has changed... Looking back, the friendships that we (in youthful fancy) thought would be part of our lives forever, did not end up that way. Life took us all in different directions.
I'm mourning that a little today. Sounds a little pitiful, I know.
No regrets. Just a little melancholy reflection, and lots of good memories.
Do you ever have days like that?
Oh yes and I don't think it's at all abnormal. It sounds as if you enjoyed a relationship that was more like family than friends and that's a beautiful thing. How wonderful to reconnect even under the circumstances. I think your friends' father would be happy to know and I'd not be surprised if he does. Blessings and comfort...
ReplyDeleteAwww.... May the Lord hold you and your friends in His comforting arms.
ReplyDeleteIt seems that the older I get, the more reflective I become during times like this and yes... the more I grieve and mourn.
I'm so glad you were able to reconnect with your friends and reminisce. I pray that all of us will use this example to make the effort to do that more often and not wait for funerals. :(
Hugs my friend,
Deb