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| Audrey and Russ Jones visiting Grace |
This week the song lyrics “Make new friends but keep the old, one is silver and the other gold” are resonating with me. I remember singing this song often as a youngster in the Girl Scouts. We would hold hands in a circle and always sing it at the close of each meeting. It was one of my favorite things about being in the Girl Scouts, this ritual was very comforting and I always looked forward to it. This week, I’m writing about you, because whoever you are, we consider you a friend of ours and a friend of Gracie’s.
Thus, this week I am going to try and attempt to thank old friends and new. I am grateful for all of our friends and family. I am grateful for old friends from high school who have written me. Some of these friends I hadn’t talked with in almost twenty years, and some I never talked to back in high school. I am grateful for meeting the wonderful hospital staff at Kaiser Roseville and the excellent tender loving care they provided for our family. From the nurse who took the time to hold Gracie while we were gone, to her big, husky ICU doctor whom she almost brought to tears, their impact on us will last a lifetime. I am grateful for all of our new friends and old. You know who you are.
So, in honor of Gracie, and us meeting so many new friends, as well as reconnecting with old friends, she asks you to do the same this week. Make a new friend for yourself or reconnect with an old friend. It could be someone new that maybe that you see every day in passing but have never spoken. Or, it could be someone on my Facebook page who looks friendly! Send a message to an old friend or, better yet, call up and old friend just to see how they are doing. Remember some more lyrics from the Make New Friends song, “A circle’s round, it has no end, that’s how long, I’m gonna be your friend.“
Aw! Love this . . . thanks for being our friends. I remember that song from Girl Scout's too.
ReplyDeleteHolly and Brien, you guys are the best! Not only Gracie has touched my heart but the two of you as well. I remember this song from a Wee Sing tape the boys had..great memories...thank you for sharing. Love you always...Patti
ReplyDeleteWell, it seems Gracie needed to be an angel to help me better understand this lesson. As I returned home from saying goodbye to our beautiful angel, I went to catch up on Facebook and had a surprise from an old friend that I never would have expected. My host mother from Sweden from when I was an exchange student in 1986-87 had sent me a friend request today. This might not sound like a big deal to some, but to me this was HUGE in that we have been out of contact for many, many years. Her name is Kerstin and she never had an email, or computer, let alone a FB account, so as years passed it was very difficult to connect with her and she was really important to me, so I always felt a loss, although thought of her often. She has some difficulties with English and as the years passed and I forgot the Swedish language more and more, even phone calls were difficult, if not impossible. Letters simply took so long to reach her and I really couldn't express myself fully as I wrote Swedish at a kindergartners level. Meanwhile, I missed connecting with her terribly, especially during the last many years as she battled breast cancer . . . my heart was truly breaking that we'd lost contact except through messages sent to her children. I so wanted to keep in touch, share pictures and updates with her, but to do that was quite an effort, unlike with Facebook.
ReplyDeleteWell, I truly believe that one of Gracie's first assignments as an angel was to help the two of us reconnect directly after almost 20+ yrs of lost contact. The reason I believe this so whole heartedly is Kerstin and Grace now share a special connection. Today is the 1st day we celebrate Grace as an Angel in Heaven . . . it is also the same day that Kerstin celebrates her 70th birthday, October 23rd. For her birthday today, Kerstin was given a computer and her children helped to set her up with the Facebook access that now allows she and I to connect once again. Something I've been longing for over the decades, a prayer of mine that was finally answered . . . thank you Gracie, my darling princess Angel. Much love to you from Aunt Audie for teaching me the importance of this lesson and helping me to make this happen. xoxoxoxoxo