[stillbaffled]

OR - good to have an update from you! 

I enjoyed Bryce, Zion and Arches.  Have not been to Canyonlands but it's on the list. 

I had to look up the Zeen.  Glad it has been such a great help to you with mobility. 

I'm also in year 8 post bomb drop and life is, indeed, very good. 

[OffRoad]

It is so good to read all the wonderful things people are doing. There is something very calming? Spiritual? Satisfying? All 3? in pursuing an enjoyable hobby or adventure. Growing something you can eat has its own special quality, but also experiencing the outdoors or art or creativity is  nourishing to the soul, imo. I probably enjoy it so much extra because I thought I would never do much of anything except sit for the rest of my life. I have learned patience like I never thought I could (I do nothing fast anymore, and I used to do everything fast). My mantra is "one thing at a time ".

Life sends you odd things. Last September I was thinking of an old friend. Boyfriend from many years gone by, in fact. I hadn't connected with him in some years so I looked him up on line, found it interesting that he worked on Video games my son plays and thought maybe I'd ping him later and see how he's doing. Then life got in the way.

This September, I thought of him again. When I went to look him up, I found he had died just a few weeks after I'd looked him up the last time, and the final game he had worked on had just been released when I thought of him again.

This left me feeling very odd. In hindsight,  my thinking of him last September was telling me to contact him and I ignored it. Now it's too late. He was a wonderful and special man who used words like "oodles" and "Hakuna matata" before it was trendy (pre Lion King) and the world is a poorer place for the loss of him.  I can't figure out what I actually feel because I know we had met before and I know we'll meet again, crazy as that sounds. Sad for his family, for sure, but for myself, I just don't know what I feel except that I am a better person for having known him, and that I won't be passing up any opportunities to contact someone the next time I think of them out of nowhere.

[MadLuv]

Loss is a complex thing and when you also relate it to your past even more so. Something about losing someone who knew you when. Past relationships are a history that when they leave you lose with someone. I am friends with girls I have known since I was in 5th grade and there is something comforting in people knowing you. All of you. The you before, during and after. People that hold your memories are family.  No matter the distance that life brings about. When they leave they take part of it with them that can no longer be shared or reminisced or enjoyed. So very sorry

[FaithWalker]

I'm sorry for your loss OR.  I do understand the feeling of loss to connections from our past, and will also remember this for if I get the same feeling to reach out to someone.

[OffRoad]

Thank you MadLuv and FaithWalker. As one of those strange things that happen, shortly thereafter I heard from another friend I hadn't connected with in nearly a year. She just "felt she had to talk to me". Then my son said he was going to be in the area and wanted to get together. We talked for hours, and played on the new old Wii I purchased off of eBay (never used, had the 2006 date when I booted it up). Great find, I still like Link's Crossbow Training, Nerf N-Strike and Mario Cart.

XH just had a contemporary friend die. Per S24, it has really affected him.All I could say to S was "I'm sorry it happened." It's what happens when mlc people drink themselves to death. Alcohol toxicity is real. He went very fast, too. Seems like people are dying at a faster pace than they used to, but it's probably just my current perspective.

Looking forward to a trip to see the Monarch butterflies in Central CA. I went 7 years ago and it was incredible.