When a friend shares a wonderful piece of their life with me, it helps lift me up from my immediate circumstances

Mary fully retired end of June

She is traveling in beautiful places

Italy’s lake region

Shores of Croatia

Seeing them thru pictures shared, explore, enjoy, be happy, is a gift shared

Gary just shared she is in a new relationship that is making her super happy, filling her heart

She gave me the gift of vicariously joining her in this wonderful place of new romance

She reminded me too of how much Matt taught me about what it means to be truly loved

We have been married now almost 16 years

I am a different, better person now because of him, his love

Letting us vicariously join into lives of family and friends as the wonderful happens is a gift

I, for one, don’t take a “woah why not me” attitude, we have had plenty of days where we have adventured far, we will still have moments of joy, I have to believe that, no, I know that is truth

To be able to embrace another’s happy adds joy, there is no subtraction

Being able to embrace others struggles reminds us the world is much bigger than our 1/3 acre here

Corny, Fletcher, Poppi all got a terrible staph infection while traveling

Noni had a bad fall recently and is in the hospital

We can still help, we want to know, we truly care, we have time now we struggled to find before

Even if it’s simple moral support

There is so much going on right now

Being told the wonderful, the scary, it’s all okay to share with us

I am learning that

Much of life, on the whole, has been easy

I am learning what life is like when it’s not easy

It’s meaningful to be in connection, to be sharing others happiness, sharing others burdens while shouldering our burdens

Bring it on!