Looking up my Past

 I remember taking a long look at my friend Jane’s life.  She was a pediatrician at my younger daughter’s medical group.  We met because her daughter and mine were friends and we saw each other through that venue and then as the girls were on the same soccer team and became friends, as they lived very near us, and Bill (her Bill) began commuting to chorus with my Bill.  A few years ago, they moved to Ashland, Oregon, but immediately Bill got lung cancer and they were stuck up there with Jane taking care of him. We visited him a few times up there.  After he died, she moved back to be near us, where she has remained.  She still wishes she had kept her former house, because she could not buy it back, but her present place suits her better anyway.  She survived breast cancer herself years ago, and I was one of her friends who was there for her, which is when we really became closer.

Now she is in a monthly group with me.  What a life force she has been for me.  She’s survived so much, and she has three granddaughters now, two of whom are teenagers.  Her youngish granddaughter lives close by.  Having these friends with their ups and downs, makes me know I can survive hurdles myself.  We grow older, we encounter obstacles, and we survive what we must.  Thanks, Jane, for being a good friend.

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