RECONNECTING WITH AN OLD FRIEND,,,,

Eight years....I couldn't believe it had been eight years since I'd seen my ex-sister-in-law.  Gosh, we were sister-in-laws for years and years....all through our child raising years, our children's marriages, some of our grandchildren being born...and then it happened.  A divorce.... but we vowed we'd always remain "friends".  But, something happened.  She got remarried, moved farther north from us....not far, just Indianapolis....but we just seemed to lose contact.  Then facebook came along and we reconnected!  Yay!  And last week while talking on facebook, we managed to find a day we could both be free to meet for lunch.  So, we both drove half way and met at the Edinburgh Cracker Barrel.

It was wonderful seeing Linda again!  She hadn't changed or aged a bit and looked exactly how I remembered.  We had so much catching up to do.....we actually had a five hour lunch!  We laughed together....and we cried together, as we shared painful events in our lives over the last 8 years, like the passing of our parents....her dad and my mom and dad.  After sitting there after eating and talking, Linda had the great idea of going outside and visiting from their rocking chairs....duh, why didn't I think of that? 

When we went out there, a man was in one of the rockers, working with some paperwork.  I wanted to find a stranger to snap our photo for us, but he appeared "too busy", so I didn't want to bother him.  But, just as soon as we sat down a couple came up to enter the restaurant and I asked the lady if she'd snap our pic, so she did! 

Well, Dale, the man who was sitting there doing paperwork was "miffed" that we didn't ask HIM to take our picture.  LOL!  After joking around with him a bit, I turned the camera on him and he obliged and I told him he was going on my blog!  LOL...I just love the people I meet in this journey called life.

As Linda and I parted, we vowed that we would not wait 8 years again.  I've told her if we'd get together more regular we could probably cut our lunch down from 5 hours to 2.  :=) 

More changes in my life!

Yesterday I talked about the "little things in life" and the changes that cancer has brought to my own life.  Well, I thought of a few more.  One that Linda noticed today was my fingernails!  Now, for those who KNOW me, they know I've bit my fingernails down to the skin and beyond my whole life....until now!  Now, Linda hadn't seen me in 8 years and I had "new hair" and "new boobs" and what does she notice?  My fingernails!  LOL!  She was amazed and said she didn't think she'd ever see the day I had fingernails!  Now, I can't explain why chemo seemed good for my fingernails, but they grew hard and fast.  I had read that chemo can turn your fingernails dark....but it was the opposite for me.....it helped my fingernails (plus the fact I didn't bite them....I guess I was too weak to bite them while doing chemo...LOL).

Make-up....another change in my life.  Now, when I was younger, I used to wear a little make-up, but never have been a heavy make-up user.  But somewhere along the line, I quit using it at all.....another "rut" in my life....I quit caring how I looked.  I know part of it was depression (which is another story for another day).  When I got the cancer and the chemo made me lose my hair and I was so pale, I turned to make-up again.  It brought some color back to my pale face at the time.  And now I find I don't want to leave the house without it. 

And jewelry....I'm not talking expensive jewelry....just costume jewelry.  With the chemo came my love for costume jewelry again and I was happy to discover that my double pierced earring holes were still there even after years of "no use".  I don't know why or when I quit wearing jewelry.....I just was not a big jewelry person.  I was an unusual woman.  While other women would want jewelry, I would rather have a crafting tool.  LOL!    But, along with the cancer and chemo, came my desire to wear jewelry again.  Seems like a strange thing for cancer to bring back into your life, doesn't it?  Maybe it has something to do with "control".  While I couldn't control what the chemo was doing to me and the way I looked, I found some type of control in make-up and jewelry.  I began to care what I looked like.  I think I tried to accentuate those things to override what the chemo was doing to the way I looked.  Does that make sense?  I began to care more about doing things to make myself "look better"....not so much for anyone else...it made ME feel better about myself!  I think you lose so much control over your whole life while going through cancer treatments that you look for things you can control!  Now, just like make-up, I hardly leave the house without some jewelry on!

Like I said yesterday....this isn't a "new me"....it's actually the "old me"!  Kinda like a "re-birth"!  It truly has turned out to be the "little things in life" that has brought me joy thru my journey!

Until next time.....reconnect with someone from your past that you love and care about!  It made my day!  Love ya Linda!  And do something for yourself to make yourself feel good!  :=)

Cindy