if you love something...

let it go, because nature really does abhor a vacuum.

in the last week, i've heard from more friends than i even remembered i had. people who've been sick, people who've been busy with kids and jobs and parents, people i used to know from long-ago have all come calling. consequently, when i haven't been composing the letter i left for laura outlining all that went wrong between us, i've been catching up on friends near and far in both space and time, and i have been touched and gratified - and truly blessed - by all the support and sympathy. this has easily been one of the most physically and emotionally painful periods of my life and i have been humbled by the outpouring of loving-kindness that has come from some of the most unexpected of places.

but the best surprise so far came yesterday, as i was getting ready to go buy dog food. the phone rang as i was reaching for my keys. it was someone whose voice i hadn't heard in over 15 years, someone i reconnected with via the internet and my blog in the last 18 months, someone who... on more than one level... i could've considered a sister.

judy and i met when we were both young mothers - her oldest son and katie are just 12 days apart - and i moved into the same condo complex she was moving out of. she wasn't moving far, and i was really happy about that, because judy and i hit it off from the beginning. judy was there when i started my home daycare business, judy was there to help me figure out what the alarming rash on jamie's tiny little penis was (she had two boy-babies by the time i had one). judy was there when meg was born, our support person for katie and jamie.

how did we lose touch? my ex and i moved away to another city; judy stayed put. when things went bad between mister ex and me, judy wasn't there to see how bad it really got. judy wrote me a letter - not unlike the one i wrote laura on sunday - and that was that. i had to make a new life for myself, i didn't have time to explain.

but as the years rolled on, as life softened, and i saw how friends can come and go not at will, but at the whim of time and fate, i decided to see if i could find her. and so, i did. i emailed judy on new year's 2007, i think - on the heels of the anniversary of my dear friend lorraine's death. i think i even blogged about it.

it made me really happy when judy responded almost immediately. it's made me even happier that she reads my blog, and has continued to be in touch. yesterday evening's call was like manna in the desert, or water from the rock.

if there's one thing life has taught me, it's how true this saying is - if you love something - or someone - let it go. if it - or he or she - loves you too, it will come back.

and so here i stand on the verge of the summer solstice, at the turning point of the year... welcoming one friend back into my life, while i bid another blessings on her journey.

and furthermore, the war will end. blessed be.