The trip had an interesting start with a reconnection visit with the wife of a childhood best friend who tragically passed away 8 years ago from cancer. He had three teen age children at the time and I helped give a eulogy at his funeral. His widow had raised these kids as a single mom and recently got married this past summer to a special person she had found along the way in a similar situation with two daughters. I got her number on Tuesday afternoon from my friend’s sister and on Wednesday evening we went out for a surprisingly sudden great dinner.
The dinner was nice and the couple was inspirational in how they had rebounded from life’s tragedies and made a new life and a new family. I had thought it might be awkward since I had known her since middle school and her former husband, a best friend since first grade. It was not awkward at all. I only felt happiness for her and in a way for my deceased friend because she and her new husband were really happy and really in love as a couple. They struggled putting their blended families together but they did not quit and they had done it.
I realized that no matter how much in love you are with your soulmate, nobody wants a surviving spouse to mourn forever. In fact, I think now, most soulmates would only want their surviving spouse to find happiness and joy in life and if they find it with someone else, so be it, it’s a blessing for all. Sometimes I feel that those who have passed on have the ability to go on a journey with the living at times like these and it’s nice when it has a happy ending for all.
