Good morning World! I'm writing this from the comfy-welcoming living room of my long time friends Leigh Anne & Bob Boyington. Leigh Anne and I have been friends for over 30 years. We laughingly say that we are living parallel lives as there are so many things we have in common it's sometimes scary! More on that in a sec...
This past Monday we headed North from what has been our Florida home - everything was sold, cleaned, paid, and settled. The camry ( now known as the CAMP-RY) was loaded with our supplies, Steve & I of course our dog Jacks! First stop Alabama where we camped at the most beautiful and serene setting this side of heaven- Ft Toulouse National Park. Ft Toulouse is just south of Wetumpka where the Coosa and Tallapoosa rivers meet to form the headwaters of the Alabama River. The campground is on a bluff overlooking the Coosa river, shaded by 100 year old southern oaks donning shaws of spanish moss. I could have stayed there forever.
After the trauma of last weeks downsizing, Ft Toulouse was just the place for a few days of quiet reflecting.
Mid-week we had commitments in Southern Alabama and made the jaunt back south. The weather was most uncooperative- heavy rains, winds and possible tornados...Leigh Anne graciously offered to let us stay with her.
As I'm writing this I am surrounded by the treasures she and Bob and their children have acquired over a lifetime of marriage and friendship. It's bittersweet to see each item on their bookshelves and walls and to know that behind each carefully displayed treasure is a memory of a happier day...you see Bob lost his battle to cancer last month. Leigh Anne and their children are on a journey of their own now as they get accustomed to life without Bob- father-husband and friend.
I can't imagine their pain nor the fear of the future without their anchor. I understand their loss and how badly they miss Bob and his laughter and his relentless steadfast dedication to his family. Bob was a true gem in a society of fakes. The world is truly a lesser place without him. The picture below is Leigh Anne and Bob - b.c. (before cancer).
I am humbled and grateful but I feel small compared to the grief that I know has perched over my precious friend. Leigh Anne's loss easily silences the whiney voice of whatever worries or fears I have rumbling around in my head like the thunder of the storms outside.
Thank you my friends- Leigh Anne and Bob and Chance and Jill. Thank you for opening your home to us so we could avoid the storm outside and for reminding us that like last night's downpour- the storms in our lives can't hurt us when we share them with friends.
Namaste my friends and Peace for every step of your journey.
Linda, I read this before not long after you wrote it. At that time I was still see o overwhelmed with grief that I didn't truly comprehend all I was reading.
ReplyDeleteEven though I still cry like a baby every day over the man who I shared over half my life with I can at least now appreciate your words of kindness and see what a truly loving and wise human being you are. You have been my truest and most loved friend also for over half my life. We have shared secrets, heartaches, joys and laughter for a lifetime. Now you have brought Steve into our circle of friendship and now that makes him my brother because you are most certainly my sister. I love you both. Thank you for always being there for me when I needed you. I wish you a safe journey. Just don't forget your way Home. You both will always have a home here with me...In every sense of the word. I love you my sister and brother!
ahhh my BFF sending you hugs as big as the Montana sky above me. You my sister will also always have a place in my heart and home.
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