Dear Reader:

Have you ever gone through a period of time when many of the  important players in your life (you depend on for their expertise) suddenly disappear… leaving you feeling vulnerable and lost? And doesn’t this seem to happen all at once instead of in more sizable bites that we could handle?

These “players” are people we have turned to for medical advice, or financial help, or insurance needs, daily household repairs, lawn maintenance and so on and so on and so on…they cover so many aspects of daily life. We count on them being there for us and suddenly one day they are gone.

I am going through such a period of time. Over the last three to six months…I have received notification that my tax consultant and preparer retired, my insurance agent who has been there for me for almost four decades is no longer there, my lawn maintenance help has changed three times in six months, my electrician and plumber retired, and my oncologist of nine years left suddenly for a family emergency and then retired.

Some of these people I saw monthly, some yearly, some throughout the year as needed…but I counted on each and everyone of them…and now they are gone.

I know it is time to “put on my big girl panties and just deal with it” but still, it is hard isn’t it?

Saying good-bye is difficult but I have discovered that not having the opportunity to say good-bye is even harder.

It is an eerie feeling to discover people have just “disappeared” from your radar and no longer visible in your daily life. Sometimes we receive a letter of explanation, other times we just discover the departure by accident….calling or stopping by and the office or store is closed up or another person answers the phone when we call.

I do try to remind myself that each person who helped me through life was placed there for a reason and it is simply time for them or me to turn a new page in their and our lives. And I am glad that I was fortunate to have them in my lives for the time I did. These thoughts help take the sting out of sudden departures.

Quinn Caldwell, in one of his daily devotionals, discusses the importance of good-byes.

“Nobody likes goodbyes, and we go to many lengths to soften or avoid them.  A colleague leaves or a friend moves, and we say it’s not goodbye because we promise to have lunch, or to write, or to Facebook.  Sometimes we avoid the moment altogether: even though I barely knew her, I once hid in the bathroom for half an hour at a coworker’s goodbye party to avoid the moment when she actually left.

When Paul says goodbye to the Ephesians, he gets it right.  He remembers what they did together, he tells them what they mean to him, he commends them to God.  The word “goodbye” is a contraction of “God be with ye.”  Saying it is a reminder that even when we’re apart, God is with us both. 

It’s an act of faith that if God is with you and with me, then somehow we’re still together, and that in the end we’ll join each other at a reunion in God’s heart.  It’s a promise that even when I can’t be with you, God will be, and that that will be sufficient.

Sometime soon you’ll have to say goodbye to somebody.  It’s worth doing well, for it’s all about faith.

So until tomorrow…as people of faith let us learn how to say “good-bye” to people with memories and humor…promising to reunite some day, some where, beyond the timely restrictions placed upon us on earth.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Yesterday afternoon was so much fun…Luke came over and helped me replace ceiling  light bulbs…Thank goodness for our new neighbor…I would be walking around in a half lit house. Then Gin-g surprised me by kidnapping a most willing “victim” to take to  Arby’s  for the best milkshake you have ever put in your mouth...Ghiradelli Chocolate Shake!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We stopped in Hutchinson Square and enjoyed every morsel of it while we watched the children playing with all the Halloween displays.

When I got home and checked my Iphone I saw where Anne had sent out an SOS for her sister, Lucy, who is visiting her, along with her husband, Dave. Lucy had just finished number 1 of the Armand Gamache detective series and was in need of an emergency “fix” to read number 2. I gave her books 2 and 3 since they are staying until Saturday.

Anne and Lucy have now turned Armand’s surname into a verb…they said they have “gamached” over several puzzling situations encountered while walking and riding their bikes around Charleston and Summerville. Poor Dave is stuck ‘in the middle’ between two Armand Gamache enthusiastic fans! What’s a fella to do?

All three went to the Coastal Carolina Fair and guess what Anne discovered…she won a blue ribbon (Award of Merit)  for her “Tea Cup” (Limoges) Way to go Anne!