it seems the older i get the smaller my circles become. family circles. friend circles. circles of people i trust.

making new friends isn’t difficult, but finding those friends who are your people takes time. it was so much easier when my life as an adult began, and i was married and having babies. and my friends were getting married and having babies, and we were all in the same life cycle.

but that changes. the older we get the more our life cycle changes. we all have this book that we are writing about our lives, but the chapters happen in different order sometimes. some of us bury our parents. some of us bury our children. some of us bury people with whom we just needed more time.

and the chapters diverge into different directions. time passes, and sometimes we find ourselves alone on an island.
but the lifecycle and the beauty that i am rediscovering in this stage of my life is that some of those people that i connected with in my 20s and my 30s as we were bearing and raising our children, those friendships have continued and we have been able to pick up where we left off as if no time had passed – as if decades had not passed.

marriages ended. careers changed. our children grew up and moved away and led their own lives. and that circle that began so long ago reopens and life gives us another chance so that we are not alone.

what a gift.

in a time when i felt like those circles were shrinking, there is a surge and familial relationships are healed and friendships are renewed.

we must never give up. because just when we think we are alone, we turn the page and realize that our story isn’t over.

what a gift.