Category: Family & Friends

Many years ago now, I had a really bad day. I’d gone to get my hair done and ended up with the worst cut, and color job in the history of cosmetology.

I came home crying and feeling just plain ugly. I planned to put a bag over my head until it all grew out!

Then I looked in our local phone-book and saw an ad for a Board Certified Colorist! So, with nothing to lose, I called and got an appointment, pronto.

That person was Margarita. I did not know that day what a good friend she would become and how much I relied on her. She was never farther away than a phone call, and I always planned my appointments around lunch so we could sit and chat.

Over the years, our friendship grew and grew, and I can freely admit that I loved this beautiful, kind woman.

In October she became ill and was diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer. Her family came up and brought her back to Miami, where she had grown up. I spent the afternoon with her, somehow knowing that day, it would be the last time I would see her.

I left feeling deep sadness, praying for a miracle, but knowing the cruelty of this form of Cancer that had already claimed two of my friends.

Saturday, Margarita passed from this life to the next. I will never hear her voice, or share jokes and laughter. A bright light is gone from my life.

Yet, I celebrate the fact that I knew this wonderful woman. Rest in peace my dear friend. You will be greatly missed and never forgotten.

Usually I join my cousin for Friday Fill-Ins, but I am short on time, so I’ll just tell you about my current plans.

I leave first thing in the morning for Connecticut and my sister’s house. I’ll be seeing my mother, who I have not seen in nearly two years. I love her, but it is a struggle.

My niece is getting married in April and Saturday is her Bridal Shower. What fun.

I’m just going for one night and then I’ll be back. The pups and Hubby need me, and I am finding it harder and harder to get away.

The bonus here is that I get to see Mandy, Savannah and my cousin Janet as well. All the gals in the family!

I am praying for good weather and not too much in the way of traffic. Keep your fingers crossed!

On Monday, our long awaited guests arrived! I’d done the cleaning and I had made a nice potato salad, and rolled some delicious deli meats, and when I laid out the table, I was prouder than Julia Child at her first self cooked dinner party!

Hubby knew Howard and Petra much better than I do, as he worked with them both, years ago, with Pan Am. I’d met them once or twice and hadn’t seen them since 2000.

I’d been so nervous about their coming to the house. You want to know why? Because although I am happy living with imperfection, and comfortable amongst the chaos, with my Hubby and four wonderful pups, I am often convinced that no one else could appreciate that.

How wrong I was! Guess what? Petra had owned a miniature wirehaired dackel when she lived in Germany. Not only did she fall in love with my three terrors, but she liked the big guy, Fritzi too!

While Hubby showed them around the yard, I laid the table. The centerpiece of the meal was Baked French Onion Soup! All in all, lunch was also a hit, and after I tidied up after, we jumped in the car for a ride around our hometown and then a drive over to a local old fashioned General Store. I love going there.

We returned late in the afternoon, and pretty much had to say our goodbyes, as they needed to get back to the city before it got dark.

I’ve simply got to relax and not be so hard on myself. I’ve got to stop worrying so much and just be myself. I hope they will be back next summer!

On Monday, we received an email from Hubby’s long lost cousin and his wife. We have not seen or spoken to them after nearly 20 years. When we parted all those years ago, there were bitter words exchanged and the atmosphere in the family  was tense.

But, no one is getting any younger, and so when they wrote, we invited them to stop on in. They arrived just before 2 pm.

We sat around talking and sharing, and filling in all those things that we’d missed in the other’s lives.

It’s pretty late now, and they have turned in. I am going next. I’m exhausted. However, I am so happy that something I thought wasn’t possible to come back, somehow found it’s way back into our lives.