Learning Slowly.

Some lessons are harder learned than others. And, last night, I learned a BIG one. Stay connected (in some way) to those people who make a difference in your life. Even if it is just that once a year holiday card. Someday, they won't be there.

I used to board a horse at a barn. I made a lot of friends while I was there. And, sadly, have kept in touch with none of them. Thanks to the Internet wonder of social networks, I have found two of them on facebook. They were just young girls when I knew them. Now they are grown women with lives of their own. I adored their mother, she was one of those people I looked up to, and in small ways she had a huge impact on who I am. I found out last night, through too much time spent staring at the computer, that she passed away almost four years ago. It was quite a shocker. She will forever in my mind be young and healthy. Smiling and kind. A pattern to follow when things get a bit wild. She had a great sense of humor, and a love for her daughters that was unswayed by the phases that children are wired for. She seemed to have an ability for riding things out, knowing that things pass, but love remains. I have no idea what happened to take her from this world, it wasn't through conversations with her daughters that I found out. It was a google search of her name, that lead to an obituary archive from the Salt Lake Tribune. I did learn, through my shock, a little bit about immortality. Because that's what I think memories are. The shock that death cannot be real, because in your mind, you hear their words, see their smile, remember that last conversation.

So, to all of my family and friends. I think of you all often, and I adore you all in the memories that I have.