I have a little story to tell you.

A few weeks ago, I was sitting here after midnight, winding down for the night.  I was surfing….and, one of the things I do to entertain myself is to read some of the obituaries in the towns where we’ve lived over the years.  The town I was born in, and lived for about 14 years, is in Iowa.  It’s a big city, now, compared to what it was then – but, it was pretty good sized when I was growing up.  But, I do like to know if anyone I knew had died.  Morbid as that might sound, it soothes me … gives me a chance to add some prayers to my daily prayer list, and surprisingly, it also calms me.  Not to mention that I’m not in touch with many of my family members, and I like to see if we’ve lost another branch (or two) from the family tree.

When I was in the fourth grade, my dad purchased a farm north of town, and we lived there for a couple of years.  And although we lived in many places when I was a kid, “the farm” is where we established the closest relationships with neighbors.  I find that interesting, that I don’t recall friends or neighbors from any other places we lived when I was growing up!  I’m still in contact with my best friend from the fourth grade, who’s still up there, as they were neighbors of ours on the farm.  And her parents took in my brother, Tom, after our mom abandoned us….until our uncle was ready for my brothers.

Anyways, last week, I saw that another neighbor, Mr. H, had died at the age of 84.  Boy-oh-boy, did the mention of him and his family bring some memories flooding back!  Their farm was a mile or so from ours, but since my dad owned a livestock auction, our families became friends because Mr. H already knew Dad…and two of their children had the same first names as my two older siblings.  And Mrs. H remembers how much coffee she and my mom used to drink!

Then I realized that Mr. H’s funeral services were going to be at the church that I was baptized, and I also attended their school in the seventh and eighth grades.  So, without another thought, I emailed the Pastor and asked him to print out my email and give it to Mr. H’s family.

This morning, I had an email from Mr. H’s daughter, telling me how much the sympathy email had meant to her mom.

Small world, eh?!!

So, today – I want to add Mr. H’s family to my prayer list.  Mrs. H is getting up there in years, too – but, she still lives on the family farm.  They have a mentally handicapped daughter (that my dad used to tease and tease), as well as the two other children, that I remember from my youth.

And I want to shout out to you – relationships matter.  I don’t allow ugly relationships into my life, but it’s wonderful to build (and re-build) good ones, to share the love of life, to reminisce about old times, and to just grow old together.  It may be a cliche, but love is what makes the world go ’round!

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