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My dog and kitties, my mom and dad, my niece, and a couple of close friends. They are very important to me. Losing one of them would be like losing a part of me.
Beautiful post, Coolhand. It didn't sound preachy at all. Good luck with your recovery.
My health - It's fragile and precious and I'm dedicated to it. My "family"- the people I have chosen to have in my life. I love them, and I tell them every chance I get. My dogs - they bring me so much joy, every day, and I hope they know how much I love them.
Every day that we have. I learn something from someone every day. Thanks for reminding us.
So I've been out of commission for a few weeks recovering from surgery with plenty of time on my hands to reflect on the who and the what that's important in regard to my own life. Sometimes it takes a scare to nudge you and remind you of the who and what that matters in your life and who and what doesn't. Pending one more test I'm fairly hopeful of a clean bill of health. Whether that's going to be luck of the draw, karma, or the work of whoever has their hands on the controls of this silly world, I don't know, but my fingers are crossed and my mind is in a better place then it was for the last several weeks.
While reflecting on my own mortality and the grueling and often crazy path I've carved out of this life, I thought about not only the people who matter most in my life right now, but those who I may have taken for granted in the past or perhaps invested too much stock into as well. Every so often it's good to take a "relationship inventory" of your life and determine who really matters, and then SHOW them! Whether in some grand or small way, let them know how much they mean to you. If you know you may not have been the greatest parent, friend, or sibling that you could be, a small gesture of sharing what they mean to you can go a long way. Whether it's a hand written note, a phone conversation or even a text, get it out there. I promise you the recipient will be touched.
I'm sorry if this seems somewhat preachy, perhaps I'm just being overly sentimental right now in my weary state of mind. The last few weeks have been mentally and emotionally exhausting. But all too often we get complacent, and some of us may have a tendency to take the who and what that is important in our lives for granted. We may also find ourselves investing too much of our love, energy, and kindness for the wrong people. While an illness can often bring out the best in your friends and loved ones, it can also bring out the worst. I discovered that the hard way these past couple of weeks, even though I suspected it for some time. This is just a friendly nudge from a guy who recently had a moment of clarity and wiped the fog from his glasses.
On that note, I want to say I've missed several of you these past few weeks. Seems hard to believe that anyone would put much stock into e-friends, but we've all shared some fairly intimate and tragic moments in our lives here in the forums, and I've gotten to know some of you better than people I've worked with or have known for years. I hope you all had a healthy and happy holiday season and I wish you all the best in 2010!
Of course my husband, children and grandchildren are most important, but your post reminded me of something I try to instill in my kids, but I don't think it has sunk in.
When you get to be my age, old friends are precious. I am so glad that I still keep in touch with many of the people from the neighborhood where we all lived when the children were little. These friends are scattered across the country from Seattle to Florida and if we didn't occasionally see each other, the precious memories would have been lost.
I tell my kids they should tend their friends like a garden, and it takes a lifetime to make an old friend, but they don't really think it's important.
Coohand, I'm sorry to hear that you had to have surgery. I hope everything turns out okay for you. I was wondering where you were and am so glad you're back. I absolutely love your post and I think it's a lovely reminder for all of us - it's the people in our lives that are the most important. Wishing you good health and happiness in 2010.
Nice post (didn't want to quote the whole thing again).
It is amazing how having tough times helps you see who your real friends are.
Several of my so-called friends dropped down several rungs on the "friends ladder" after my break-up with my fiance, and after I had cancer surgery.
I'm sure I drove a lot of them crazy with my weepy phone calls after my relationship disaster, but my true friends were always there to listen. The not so good ones were telling me to "suck it up" and "get over it" after about two weeks
I hope whatever your health issue was, that you're all better and the test results will confirm that.
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