19 months later...

I'm sure you've all heard this quote before and wondered why some people come into your life, I know I do! I was totally caught of guard when my late husband reached out to me many years after our lives took different paths after high school. At first I thought he was just being his usual smart aleck flirtatious self and then after months of talking he finally admitted what his intentions were! Obviously, we both had things in life that we needed to go through first before finding each other and creating our life together. I thought he would be the one I I was with for a lifetime, grew old with, watch our kids grow up, become grandparents, etc. Well obviously that didn't happen when life slapped me in the face and I lost him unexpectedly. Was it for a season? I guess so and it was definitely for a reason. I'll never understand why God took him so early and didn't intend his reason to be for a lifetime but all I can do is move forward keeping his spirit close by as I do so.

Anyway, there are definitely people who came into my life for a reason, some I understood and some not so much! This past year that has taught me how to recognize that there is life after losing someone you thought you'd be with forever. It makes you feel a little bit more alive again and happy that you have someone to share things with on a totally different level. More recently I have a couple people from my "past" that have re-entered my life... one very unexpectedly, the other has been in and out of my life sometimes more randomly touching base and now talk to almost on a daily basis. Do you wonder why you've reconnected with people that were important in your life sometimes decades ago? It's kinda crazy! One more recently has kind of blown my mind since I truly never saw it coming. It's completely surreal to reminisce about things that happened over 30 years ago and wonder what might've happened if other things didn't occur in life. Some of the people I thought I had lost touch with have become some of the most important people in my life, now always checking in to see how life is going and making sure we know we're there for one another. For those reasons, I'm incredibly thankful. I guess some of it comes back to realizing that God has a plan for us and I surely don't understand it most of the time and just hope I'm on the path he intends for me to be, even if it is a twisted, curvy rollercoaster of a path!

I have three best friends from college and we have definitely came into each other's lives for a reason and a lifetime! I don't know how I would've survived a few "curveballs" in life without them. We don't live close together anymore and it's harder to see each other and talk but we always know we're there for each other if needed. They have been my saving grace on many occasions! The same goes for some of my cousins who are more like siblings but yet again, far away from each other. I would give anything to be closer to them but we make sacrifices in our lives for the sake of others or even our own well being. I miss them like crazy!

I have others that I've met through this grief journey that are in my life for obvious reasons, mainly because we're able to understand a lot of what we're all going through. With those, I can be open and honest about things whether a wave of grief or anger has hit or whether something wonderful is happening in our lives. Regardless, we are able to see how far we've come and "celebrate" that together and recognize where we're at in life.

Okay, I've babbled long enough! It's just a constant reminder for me that you can't take anything for granted because nothing is promised. Hug and let people know how much they mean to you. Stay in touch, don't be stubborn! Life is just simply too short.