Musings on a Small Life

I just ran into someone who used to be a very good friend, though we drifted apart a few years ago and haven't spoken since. No falling out, just different interests and values. She was ahead of me in Starbucks, actually. I saw her going in to the café and thought, "Nah, that can't be so-and-so" and dismissed it from my mind. Didn't recognize her from the back or pay any attention to her at all until we were waiting for our drinks and she turned and saw me , spoke to me. If she hadn't said anything I truly don't think I'd have noticed. Very surreal, to make idle chitchat with someone who was so close at one time, but who essentially is a stranger now. Her hair is significantly shorter, coloured differently, but otherwise she looks the same, looks terrific, actually. She took a new, high management position with her department back in summer; I saw that posted on our HR site. "Funny" how these things happen when you feel like crap. (I have a...

I'm utterly blown away by the generosity and kindness of complete strangers, people who have donated to help with Derry's vet bills . I'm still struggling with the embarrassment and shame of asking, but am also grateful beyond mere words. THANK YOU . Dinner last night was surprisingly good! Not awkward, as I thought it would have been. I think she's reconnecting with former friends now that she's getting set to toss out the dead beat she's been supporting for the past five years. Bizarrely, she lost one of her cats (who looked quite a bit like Chumley) to a similar problem--blood clot--two and a half years ago. And she has three other cats now, rescues, plus her 15-year old female, and various visiting cats from the neighbourhood, some with homes and some without. Our lives as middle-aged women with cats seem to be running parallel. LOL. Anyway, I certainly hope it won't be another 4 or 5 years before we see each other again. On an entirely different...

I got a call last night from a number that seemed familiar but that I couldn't place. Didn't pick up as I was in the middle of something, but it turned out to be from a (former) friend that my ex and I knew. Actually, he had met this couple many years ago in Toronto and when I hooked up with the Putz, met them through him. The four of us became friends and eventually, when the ex and I were looking to move from Halifax, we chose this area in part because of their proximity. (Not in the same city, about 45 minutes west.) Eventually they split up, and the Putz and I not long after. I kept in touch with them both for a while, but of course people take different paths and drift apart. The common ground we shared was gone. So I've been out of touch with this person for oh, about four years now, give or take. I really can't recall. But she's in town today and wants to meet, go for dinner. I called her back yesterday evening and said sure, all the while wondering if I ...