You Can Always Find the Good...

Last week I was able to go back "home" to Chester to attend the funeral of a dear friend, Cynthia Hillman. She had suffered with Crohn's disease for several months and passed away suddenly at her home when everyone thought she was actually doing better and on the mend. The death of someone so close, in friendship and in age, hit me hard. We had many things in common. She and I both had 5 kids, all pretty much the same ages and gender. We both loved to garden, sew, and do crafts. We served together in YW, Primary, and cub scouts.

It was great to see many other old friends from the ward that we lived in for 18 years, and pretty much raised our kids with. There's something about sitting on the same benches during ball games, wrestling matches, and pack meetings, cheering each others kids on. And sending them to girl's camp, on missions, helping with their wedding receptions, and lending a shoulder to cry on when one of them breaks your heart. When we moved to Bancroft, we left that part of our life behind. People here have been great, but have only known us as empty-nesters and sometimes asked, "Oh, you have other kids?"

There was time after the viewing when there was a little time to reconnect with a lot of these old friends. After visiting and laughing with them for a few minutes, Marsha said, "It's just like she's never left, huh?" And Donna said, "Come back!" And someone else said, "Your old house is just sitting there empty, you know." It made me feel good to know they felt that way. I think there will always be a bond with those people, no matter how many years go by. I will always be interested in what their kids are doing, and sharing in their joys and their heartaches.

So I guess the moral of this story is that there is always good that comes out of bad. I hated that we were there to attend the funeral of a dear friend, but glad that it gave me a reason to see and re-bond with others from that time period in my life that have been dear to my heart.