While I’ve been spending the past two months in the Mark-induced horror of betrayal and deceit, others in my life have been experiencing such wonderful wonders of life, and although they are deeply sympathetic, they are not, thankfully, having their happiness dented in any way by my misery.
My dear friend, George, who is actually the closest to a first foster child Mark and I took in … he was 18 at the time, just out of school, with no parental supervision and an open bar tab at his absent father’s hotel and was well on his way to spending the next 20 years or so not moving beyond the bar … now holds a Masters Degree, is close to 30, married, and just witnessed the birth of his first child, a son.
Martin and Caroline, those of one of the homes that put me up on my recent trip to the UK that was so meant to give me focus and support, are moving to Fiji after Martin had secured “the perfect job”. He’s a marine biologist and was unhappily back in England for five years after a stint here working in a far too political job to actually accomplish any of his goals and was almost as depressed as I was when I arrived. In the time I was trying my healing, he was offered the job of a lifetime, and they are now preparing for a whole new life in a place they’re so looking forward to living and working in.
Others, of course, have also been hitting high points, and although all have been excellent at boosting me where I need boosting and helping me through this miserable time in my life, it is so good to know that ups and downs don’t happen to everyone at the same time, and that friends are there for the highs and the lows.
My thanks to all who have given so much of themselves to me lately, and I very much look forward to celebrating all joys that may be coming to others. Someday again, the joys will be mine, and knowing that I have such a broad and fantastic foundation of friends makes life worth living.
I am a very lucky woman, and even in the depths of despair my friends don’t let me forget that.
A collection of my short stories:
I'm in this one, too ...
And I'm in here, as well ...
Paradise Preoccupied 
It is really awesome that you can rejoice with your friends while you are in the midst of trials. That is a sign of true friendship and a genuine heart of love and openness. Your time of joy will come. I have been through those times of misery, and despair when I felt like there would never be joy again. I am now tryng to move beyond those moments and look to a future of goodness and happiness. The hardest part is the healing and getting beyond the hurt to let trust and faith in others back in. Good luck to you!
“It is really awesome that you can rejoice with your friends while you are in the midst of trials. That is a sign of true friendship and a genuine heart of love and openness”
That’s our Sandra, all right!!
“Your time of joy will come”
This, too, is right on the mark 🙂
You’re doing great, Sandra. Keep being you.
((((HUGS))))
I’m so glad to see you speaking about life being worth living and having a sense of gratitude. It is nice to have you back among the living, dear friend.
Have you ever played the game “Fortunately, Unfortunately”? It’s a party game where everyone has a sheet of paper and they write a sentence that begins “Fortunately…” or “Unfortunately…”. Then you pass the paper along to the next person, and they write another sentence using the opposite word. Of course by the time your paper has made the entire circuit, each person has a clever or ridiculous story to read aloud.
Sometimes I think life is like a game of “Fortunately, Unfortunately”. Unfortunately something horrible, and tragic, and mean happens to me. Fortunately I have wonderful, kind, generous people to uphold me….and so it goes. Often it takes the horrible, and tragic, and mean to bring out the most wonderful, and kind, and generous.
P.S. The link to my blog on your blog roll doesn’t link to my blog. (?)
Scraps,
It does now. Sorry about that!
Sandra,
Birth and death. They happen everyday… literally and figuratively. This is an everyday struggle for all of us, but especially for you at this time. You may not know it or feel it right now, but you are experiencing a miracle. A birth of a new you. Everyday that you get through is a day of triumph. And while you may have doubts about yourself – know that the pure essence of who you are will prevail, will grow – and you will come out of this tragedy an even more beauitiful person than the Sandra we all know and love. There will come a day when you will stand in the sunshine and love every minute of it.