Friends, yoga, and other essentials...
I had a friend, Linda, who was tragically killed in a car accident in August, 2000. She was my one 'healthy' friend. I feel it's okay now to say that I met her in a CoDa group. Our friendship was formed there, grew from there, and lasted until her death a number of years later. We experienced many challenges during the time I knew her: empty nest, separation in marriage, suicide, you name it, we experienced it together. We had some meaningful and positive experiences also. We managed to find healthy ways to relate and survive.
We took long walks at the track and in the woods which included long running conversations. We socialized together with people who shared our desire to discover all that was good in life. We embraced each other's family and friends and did many things together. We laughed and cried together. We danced and sang together. We enjoyed good music and good meals or a single cup of coffee together. Sometimes we had dessert only. We got in touch with our 'inner child' at times and colored in coloring books or went to the park to swing or play in the sandbox. We took long trips and sometimes just day trips together. In short, we sought always to find the highest good in all circumstances. We covered it all. We shared secrets and pondered the meaning of life and love together. And unfortunately, we experienced death together when her husband took his own life just six years before her death.
In a relatively short time, I realized the most profound experiences a friendship could offer. It was so deep and so lasting, I feel she is still with me today. There is even evidence of such, as I understand it...but that is something I will share later. I will just say that I 'asked' her to leave a 'sign' that she is present, and well, 'she has done' just that, imo, so I know she continues to be very near. But for those of you who are skeptics, I'll just say that she will always be in my heart.
Anyway, prior to her death, we had researched and decided on a place to begin practicing yoga again (I'd been a student in the past, but my instructor moved away, so I did not continue my practice.). We were going to take a class in basic computer skills at a nearby community college also. It would be our New Year's resolution...to have this all in place at the beginning of 2001. We did our homework, we were ready, but that year never came for her.
I managed to come to terms with her death....it is something we'd experienced before...how to do that..and I knew she would expect no less from me than she had managed after her husband's death. But I found it difficult to walk on the track again, or take those classes we'd decided on. In fact, I was newly separated when she died, and I spent the next four years or so struggling with a pending and eventual divorce.
Today, with all of this behind me, I thought about my own health and happiness again. I thought of this another 'new year', and took out a Yoga DVD that has been collecting dust on the shelf for some time now. I put it in the DVD player, hit the play button, and yes, I participated in my first a.m. yoga session for this year....the first in many years now, and I thought of Linda........
'Namaste'
We took long walks at the track and in the woods which included long running conversations. We socialized together with people who shared our desire to discover all that was good in life. We embraced each other's family and friends and did many things together. We laughed and cried together. We danced and sang together. We enjoyed good music and good meals or a single cup of coffee together. Sometimes we had dessert only. We got in touch with our 'inner child' at times and colored in coloring books or went to the park to swing or play in the sandbox. We took long trips and sometimes just day trips together. In short, we sought always to find the highest good in all circumstances. We covered it all. We shared secrets and pondered the meaning of life and love together. And unfortunately, we experienced death together when her husband took his own life just six years before her death.
In a relatively short time, I realized the most profound experiences a friendship could offer. It was so deep and so lasting, I feel she is still with me today. There is even evidence of such, as I understand it...but that is something I will share later. I will just say that I 'asked' her to leave a 'sign' that she is present, and well, 'she has done' just that, imo, so I know she continues to be very near. But for those of you who are skeptics, I'll just say that she will always be in my heart.
Anyway, prior to her death, we had researched and decided on a place to begin practicing yoga again (I'd been a student in the past, but my instructor moved away, so I did not continue my practice.). We were going to take a class in basic computer skills at a nearby community college also. It would be our New Year's resolution...to have this all in place at the beginning of 2001. We did our homework, we were ready, but that year never came for her.
I managed to come to terms with her death....it is something we'd experienced before...how to do that..and I knew she would expect no less from me than she had managed after her husband's death. But I found it difficult to walk on the track again, or take those classes we'd decided on. In fact, I was newly separated when she died, and I spent the next four years or so struggling with a pending and eventual divorce.
Today, with all of this behind me, I thought about my own health and happiness again. I thought of this another 'new year', and took out a Yoga DVD that has been collecting dust on the shelf for some time now. I put it in the DVD player, hit the play button, and yes, I participated in my first a.m. yoga session for this year....the first in many years now, and I thought of Linda........
'Namaste'
posted by Di at 12:02 PM
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