My Dead Sea scrolls

This excerpt is from my journal. It’s like unearthing my own lost Dead Sea scrolls, only this is like, 730 some days old, instead of 2169 years. Reading it fills my eyes with happy tears. It contains the sweetness of human connection unbroken by years and miles and helps me to hold this one short weekend memory close to my heart.

The unlikely cool weather in late July 2017 made a cushion for soaking in the ambient echoes of long standing friendships. It was so good to see my hometown Quincy friends... Jill, Lisa, Gail, Megan. Just a couple of days threaded together with all the love and care pouring from hearts in conversation about who we are to each other. It is true, people won't remember what you said, or wore, or anything else, but they will remember how you made them feel. 

At some point during the weekend at a bar or maybe in the green of Jill’s backyard, Gail expressed that having Brad and Alan around made her feel grounded. Megan said she always appreciated my faith because it was complete with respect for all humanity. I told her I always appreciated her intelligence and clarity made perfect with a lack of condescension. Though we did not have lengthy conversations, Alan's long hug around my neck said plenty about our friendship. 

Jill and Burt’s kids, Lisa and Dane’s, Gail and Paul’s, are all just great people to be around, nearly all grown up. I so enjoyed interacting with them, but not without a distant bitter pang that my own children’s lives were not entangled with these people, since we had chosen to leave our hometown years before they were born. 

Though it was Burt’s 50th birthday, he gave us all a gift, Friday night, live music expertly chosen for the crowd, deftly delivered to our ears and to our nostalgic teenaged hearts, still beating somewhere beneath our accumulating years. Abundance best describes Jill's delicious shrimp boil as well as abundance describes all the feels from this weekend. These people...we don't see each other every day, even every year. It doesn't matter. We haven't gotten over each other... and I doubt we ever will. 

Have you ever tried journaling? It is a great place to practice gratitude, it can help clear the mind, affirm your direction, and remember times like these filled with deep connection. It doesn’t have to take long. Set a timer for 5 or 10 minutes and write. Or simply list 3 things your are thankful for. I promise, it will be gift to you now and maybe even 730 days from now. ; )