Old friends

Amongst my many friends, I have one in particular, a dear one, who I've known for 30 years. Kathleen and I were roommates 'back in the day' when we were both single, unencumbered & had our whole lives ahead of us.

What sets Kathleen apart from my other friends is that she still sees the girl in me. She remembers who I was before I became layered with the responsibilities that come with being a wife and mother, a daughter, sister, friend, business owner, etc. Kathleen celebrates the me that even I forget existed; the me that often gets lost in responsibilities.

When we finally arrange to spend a day together we laugh, reminisce, cry, apply balm to each others hurts, and attempt to make the world right. By the end of our day together my jaw hurts and my head pounds but I'm on a high because, once again, she has helped me to celebrate who I am.

And it's all good....

Wild Geese

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting--
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

mary oliver