Grief rips through my heart, pelting me with memories.

Memories of the deepest anguish fused with the most genuine love.

I remember the receiving line, as exhausting as it was, although that is not my predominant memory, it was the people: the people that moved my heart• that healed my heart. •the ones I had not anticipated.

She approached, with her overdone hair and obvious makeup, yet, this lady felt like home to me, but honestly, not someone I would have thought about daily, consider a close friend or even ‘family’.

She was my grandmother’s hairdresser. As she approached, I felt my emotions rise without my control.

For more years than I can remember, we had spent every two weeks, for an hour or more, in her salon, talking and just being together; somehow that meant more than I could have ever known at the time.

She finally reached my proximity and held out her arms to me. I literally collapsed into them with tears and snot eventually rolling all over as we hugged for ‘too long’. Somehow I just didn’t care because it was as though I was hugging my grandmother.

I’m not sure how this all works but what I do know, is that, God is working through those type of connections, those interactions, those consistent exchanges.

I am positive this is why He created families: grandparents, parents, children, spouses, siblings, aunts and uncles, nieces and nephews, cousins…and most certainly, close friends.

I don’t do this well, I have a tendency to isolate, but when I am reminded, they are the people that truly matter when the going gets tough, when grief intrudes, and we need that provision.

I hope you are surrounded by ‘family’ of any kind or any number, (even if they can be difficult at times😛) they truly are the supporting undercurrent of our lives. We will never have a better support system that we can trust wholeheartedly with our very lives. ❤️

Remember and believe.

All my ❤️