Laundry Pile

This is what the day after vacation looks like in my house. A gigantic pile of laundry. It isn't done yet, and this does not show you all the line dry items. Ah, a family of five with lovely little boys does indeed generate quite the pile.

Well, I left off on Wednesday. Since then, we went to a ball game in Fox River and Beloit. We spent a day with grandma and grandpa, Auntie and Uncle D and the baby cousin. There was time in the pool and lots of grill outs. We also said our last good byes to dear friends.

I'll admit. I was a blubbering fool on her front porch. After our last hugs, I couldn't even speak or turn back around for one last look. I just kept on looking forward at my kids blazing a path around the corner to our house and thinking to myself, it's ok, this is God's plan. It sure didn't feel ok, though.

And now, come Monday morning, it still doesn't. It's a little quiet around here. Oh well. I'll adjust and, I'm sure, that God will do something next. He always does.

I'm starting to understand these friendships. It's a bit of a pattern in my life. I find a wonderful friend or perhaps they find me. Either way, we bond swift and deep. We forge a friendship that leaves us wondering if we really didn't just know each other all our lives and had somehow forgotten it. Then so abruptly, with shocking swiftness, it's over. One of us is going or gone.

I think that maybe it's not about me. I know, news flash for all of you, but it's true. I don't think it's about me. These friends grew me and challenged me to be sure, but looking back, I can see where I left fingerprints on them too. We were given to each other for a time to enhance the other, and then when the growing had reached it's best spot, we're transplanted somewhere else to do it again in another way with another person. It's so bittersweet, but so precious.

Not so many weeks ago, I was visiting with a friend from another city. We both once lived in the same city and shared a collective group of friends. We were so very close, like a pack of sisters, and then it was over. We both miss it, but she said something very true. It was a once in a lifetime sweetness that was nothing short of a pure gift from above.