I woke to the sun shining into the bedroom and hallway. It’s amazing what a difference that makes. Though I know we are getting rain this afternoon and this won’t last, I’m lapping it up while I can.
I suspect the plants are lapping it up as well.
I saw two of my mourning doves the other day. I saw a blue jay yesterday morning and again today. He may have been here all along, but I’ve not seen him until now. And I’m hearing birdsong in the morning.
It’s February 24th. Do they know something I don’t know? I’m sure hoping they do. When I look at the weather forecast for the next 10 days, I see daytime temps in the forties and fifties. Still cold at night, of course, but maybe, just maybe, we’ll have an early spring.
I’m headed into the city for the day tomorrow. I’ll come back Monday morning.
Many, many years ago, one of my dearest friends died suddenly. We had been friends since 1st grade. Our families were also friends. When it came time to go to college, our choices were on opposite sides of the state. And, as happens, our paths after college took us in different directions. She moved to Wisconsin. I eventually moved to Philadelphia and graduate school. She married and had a daughter.
One day, while living in Philadelphia, my mother called me. She had to share the tragic news that my friend had died very suddenly. She had been playing with her daughter, who was less than two years old at the time, and collapsed.
I’ve been haunted by that loss ever since. Too young. So much yet to give and share and be. Never able to see her daughter grow up.
Eventually, her husband remarried. I kept in contact with her older brother (who was in my dad’s Boy Scout troop.) He and my friend were especially close siblings and his heart was broken when she died. He would fill me in on my friend’s daughter. I also wrote to her mother and we kept up a correspondence for several years.
Recently, I got a friend request on Facebook from my friend’s now adult daughter. I immediately accepted. She wrote to me, asking me to share any memories I had of her mother, which I was more than happy to do.
She’s going to be in NYC this weekend and she wants to meet me to talk about her mom.
Oh, dear friend, I’m going to meet your daughter. My heart is full.
So that’s why I’m headed into the city.
Happy Saturday.
Oh Claudia, this is beautiful.
I know how happy & excited you must be.
Peace :)
I am. So looking forward to it.
Claudia, how sad but how wonderful to be able to share memories of your dear friend with her daughter. Today is my youngest daughter’s birthday. She says she is 36 but I can’t imagine that she is really that old. Gosh it seems like yesterday she was playing in the dirt…well maybe she was as she has kids of her own now! Life is circle.
Happy Birthday to your dear daughter, Linda!
I’m wiping away the tears! What a joyous (and a bit sad) meeting you’re going to have with this young lady. I can almost imagine the list of questions she will have for you about her Mom. Have a wonderful time! xoxoxo
I will. I just hope I don’t cry!
I know I would cry (I cried just reading this) and it’s OK if you do, too!
xo
What a gift you will be giving your friends’ daughter.
I just want to be of service. I’m so fortunate to have the chance to do just that.
I am crying now that I finished your post. What a blessing and wonderful opportunity it is that the two of you are able to meet.
Thank you, Carol.
Tears. What a wonderful gift you will give her to know her mom’s life when she was a girl. So many times when someone passes, they are in some way frozen in time at that point in their life, and as that is our last memory, it is what we “go to” for most remembrances. I’m sure older relatives may have shared stories of her as a little girl, but YOU will bring the fun and real pieces to her of what her mom was like as a best friend, her hopes and dreams, and what made her giggle, and she will hold on to that forever.
Have a fantastic visit. An incredible gift for both of you.
Thank you, Chris.
Not only will your friend’s daughter gain insight into her mom’s life through your stories, but you will be able to “see” your friend again…perhaps her eyes or the gestures the daughter uses or the way she laughs. I can’t see anything but a beautiful win-win, Claudia!
Thank you, Wendy.
Dear Claudia, Any tears are surely perfect here,as is your honorable role in this ever refining relationship of Love,
Many blessings
Thank you, Grace.
I thing you will both have tears. What a treasure for her to hear from you about her Mom’s life. What a treasure for you to share with her.
Joy
Thank you, Joy.
Oh Claudia how wonderful! What a beautiful meeting that will be for both of you.
Thank you, Val.
A lovely circle. Wonderful.
Thank you, Cara.
Tears of joy for you and your lovely friend’s lovely daughter!! No more words, just hugs!
Thank you, Tana.
That’s great about your going to meet with your friend’s daughter. You know this already, of course, but you’ll be giving her a gift beyond measure. Being able to tell her so much about her mother, a lot of which I’m sure she’s never heard before, will mean SO much. Even she doesn’t know how much yet. Here’s hoping you’ll have a nice quiet comfortable place & a lot of time. I bet you anything she’ll end up saying “I don’t want to let you leave…” Have a great time & Peace…
#Resist
#ProtectMueller
Thank you, Janet.
Wiping away my tears and wishing you and your dear friend’s daughter a lovely visit. I hope you fill her heart with loving memories of her Mother. 💐
Thank you, Alice.
Sometimes life brings wonderful surprises!
Thank you, Carolyn Marie.
Yes…there are tears. What a wonderful encounter that will be…for both of you. All of your memories, being shared…from the perspective of a best friend….wonderful. Safe travels! ;)
Thank you, Donnamae.
I don’t know how you will be able to keep from crying. Just thinking about it brought tears to my eyes. Have a wonderful time. xo Laura
Thank you, Laura.
This is lovely. I expect there will be some tears and maybe even a bit of laughter too.
Thank you, Vicki.
Oh, isn’t life something?
It is!
How very lovely! You will be giving that girl a priceless gift, and you will receive such a blessing in return. This is one of life’s sweet surprises.
Thank you, Dottie.
Claudia, the meeting with your dear friends’ daughter is meant to be. Oh, what glimpses of
her young mother you will be able to give her. Even though she was so little at the time of
her mom’s passing, you will certainly fill some void for her. I’ve always wanted to know what
my mother was like as a little and younger girl. There is only one photo of young Shirley, at
13, with her 9 siblings, nothing of her alone. I think, “little Shirley, what did you look like?”
Have a wonderful, bittersweet reunion. Take care.
Oh, thank you so much, Penny. xo
What a great story. I am so happy for you and your friend’s daughter getting together. My sister and I lost a friend we knew since 7th grade. Fortunately we keep in touch with her daughter and send cards to her and her little boys for their birthdays and holidays. We also keep in touch with our late friend’s husband. I can relate to your friend’s daughter because we never really knew any of our grandparents. My father’s parents passed away within a month of each other when he was 7 and a half. My mother’s father died when she was 12. My maternal grandmother moved to California when I was 3 or 4. Fortunately my twin and I have a sister who is quite older than us and tells us some things. She had a close relationship with our grandmother and a few aunts and uncles. Enjoy your time with your friend’s daughter.
Marilyn
I never knew my paternal grandparents, either. They died before I was born. But to be two years old and have absolutely no memories of your mother must be very, very painful.
Oh, Claudia; tears in my eyes; how lovely that you can share memories with your friend’s daughter. I, too, try to share wherever I can. I was recently contacted by a cousin I’ve never met who was needing info on our ancestors and it took me awhile, when not feeling well, to pull everything together but I met her deadline (she’s about to embark overseas for a trip to the old ‘homeland’ and she has the stories now of our immigrant grandfathers so that she can pass them along to her sons when I, unfortunately, have no one who’d be interested). This all made me feel very good, so I know it will also make you feel good to share with your friend’s child.
I saw a blue jay yesterday, too; first time in so long; what a coincidence! I will swear he is the same jay my mother fed for years because he has singular markings and is absolutely the LARGEST jay I’ve ever seen. He flew up to a fence post RIGHT where I was standing, as if to say, ‘Hey, it’s me, I’m back, and I’ve got a nest, so don’t mess with me.’ He is SO bold.
I quit feeding the birds – – very hard decision – – last year or so (they have a massive natural environment and I don’t feel so much that they need me the way Mother felt they needed her; the food got so expensive and I couldn’t keep my dog out of the mess around the feeders; anyway, I don’t worry too much about him because he’s so brazen, he sweeps down and eats the dry cat food out of the bowls on the ground; my particular cats are quite wary of him {I’m sure his pecks would hurt!}). This big-blue (gorgeous blue) jay had fuzz and twigs in his beak, then flew to a small in-ground ficus tree in the neighbor’s yard (‘way in the back, where no people usually go; quiet) to show me what’s going on. I’ve been seeing the nondescript female for the past few days, so now I know the whole story; BABIES on the way. I’m going to take some scoops of the lint from the clothes-dryer’s lint trap tomorrow (when I do laundry) and drape it here and there on the fence so he can have it for the nest-building. This particular ficus is pretty burned on its top from frost damage (we’ve been in the 30s, barely above freezing, for several nights now; seems VERY unusual when we’ve been so warm over the many weeks) but it makes for an otherwise-sturdy tree which other cats can’t easily get to…so, smart jay. We do have a forecast for rain next week (it usually bypasses us, so we’ll see) and I hope if it DOES rain, that the wet doesn’t undermine his hard work on the nest.
You do get beautiful light in your cottage! Such inviting living spaces, too.
I find comfort in seeing birds that I haven’t seen for a few months. Gives me hope!
Thanks, Vicki.
Tears here, too. What gifts you’ll bring to one another. Your friend would be so pleased.
I hope she sends me some memories to share with her daughter.
I have had a similar experience with my best friend’s daughter. We met up after finding out we would both be in the same place on vacation. I was blessed to meet her four beautiful children and her fabulous husband, and see her as a mother her own mother would be proud of. It was the highlight of a two week vacation. Enjoy your time with your friend’s daughter!
I will. Thank you, Debby.
I’m late here today.
and it’s hard to write this with my eyes full of tears.
love to you and the daughter both. to you three. for her mother will be there too.
in spirit and shared memories. what an honor bestowed upon you. bless you.
xo
agree!
trust the visit’s been going well, with laughs and hugs to balance the tears.
and glad you and don have more time together, too.
safe travels back home.
kathy in iowa
Visit isn’t until tomorrow, Kathy. I’m headed into the city in the morning. Thank you!
Thank you, Tammy.
Claudia…I believe that your friend will be there with you to nudge you along and help those wonderful memories come back so that you can share them with her daughter….Of course you will cry….that is what happens when you share great love with another and you will be giving the greatest gift you could ever give to this sweet lady!
Thank you, Nancy.