OK. Friends. What would we do without them? I want to thank you, my DD friends, for your kind, supportive words in response to my moody entry. You're all blessings for me!
I have two friends named Helen. So I designate one as Helen1 because I met her before I met Helen2, and it helps my sister figure out whom I talking about when we're chatting.
Helen1 I met when we were mentoring grade school children. Turns out we have a lot more in common than that. She's a very talented painter and has given me much encouragement. I used to use watercolors, but she introduced me to pastels, and I found my medium. I love pastels. I haven't been painting lately because I'm so disorganized I can't seem to get my table cleared off to set up my easel. (I think I've complained about this before.) I have three projects very clearly delineated in my mind. Now I just have to get them on paper. We have lunch together on Thursdays and talk a lot about a lot of things.
Helen2 is Jewish, and I met her at the shul I attend. She and her husband are living in an assisted living facility now. Helen fell and broke her hip. When she was released from the hospital, she realized that she couldn't take care of herself anymore. She signed herself in to the facility. Her husband is diabetic, and discovered that he was going downhill fast without Helen around to cook proper meals and see to it he took his medicine, so he checked in, too.
They are both wondefully, generous people and freely give tzedakah (charity) when they see a need.
I have a neighbor, a young woman, who has a little boy almost three. He's a firecracker! I can't begin to list all the nice things she's done for me, but I know I can count on her if I have an emergency (G-d forbid!). Her husband is a sweetheart, too, and I'm fortunate to know them.
My daughter is my rock. I'd like to move back to Southern California because I miss my son, but I can't bear the thought of leaving my daughter and two grand children. M is a nut sometimes, but she has a very practical side to her that I absolutely depend on. She's my daughter, and my best friend.
My sister and I were not raised together (but I'm not going into family history here), but we are very close. We chat every evening on the net. We argue sometimes, but mostly we agree on whatever subject comes up. We have a connection that I would say comes from being raised together, so I'm not sure why we're so close. But I'm grateful that we are. We have no other siblings.
The sun is shining, the sky is blue, and my world is in good shape again. Thanks, friends, for your loving words.
Shalom.