Still Together

Several years ago I joined a grief support group.  I'd been a widow longer than the other women who came so I was over the first throes of widowhood, but as they say, grief never goes completely away; it just changes over time.  We met every Tuesday morning.  Over time, some dropped out and others joined.  We shared our grief and our fears and our loneliness but also our steps forward into our "new normal." We began having monthly Friday night dinners, getting together for special events and always having lunch after our meeting.

The formal meetings ended last fall, but we'd formed a bond that has remained unbroken.  We have lunch every other Tuesday, play Mah Jongg each week (yes, I'm learning to play, too) attend events together. Today several of us went to a Celebration of Life for a group member who recently passed away.  On the way home and during lunch at my apartment, we shared personal memories of her.  I'm glad we've kept our friendships intact so that we can share the good time, the sad time and even the lonely times with others who understand.

Questions to Ponder

My book club is reading I Woke Up Dead at the Mall, and in it the newly dead girl has to answer a series of questions about her life.  So at our next meeting we will discuss these questions.  I think they are good ones to consider no matter where you are in life, so here they are:
1. My greatest regret is....
2. Thinking of my most recent birthday
    a. I got everything I wanted
    b. I wanted more
    c. I didn't care about gifts
    d. I didn't celebrate my birthday.
3. Here is what I will/would miss the most
    a. Food
    b. People
    c. Sex
    d. Other.....
4. My favorite place on Earth
5. The worse thing I've done in my life (so far)
6. The best thing I've done in my life (so far)

And here's the other, which is probably a question for the newly dead:
7. I would prefer to 
   a. Return to the kind of life I was living
   b. Start over in a different life
   c. Keep what I want from my life and throw
      the rest away
   d. Undecided

I'm not going to share my answers and you don't have to either but if you like, you could leave a few in the Comment section.
   

Books of June

Shelter in Place:  After the last one I swore I would never read another Nora Roberts book but I was sick with a chest infection and I thought this one might keep me from coughing so I got it on my Kindle and I really enjoyed it.  It's about various people who were in a mall when a mass shooting took place and how it affected their lives (and don't worry--there's romance, too).

Before We Were Yours:  Based on true events about an orphanage in Memphis that takes children from their families and adopts them out.  Of course the people in the story are fictional but the orphanage and its abusive practices were real.  This one has been on the best seller list for some time.  I enjoyed it.  (And yes, there's romance, too)

I Woke Up Dead at the Mall. Who could skip a book with such an intriguing title?  My book club is reading it.  It was quirky and funny and a fast read.  (Bet you didn't think there'd be romance in a book about dead people but there is)

Humans by Christopher Seddons.  This is a very long book that begins with primates and continues through the rise of civilization.  I love books like this, but the writing was so boring that I slogged through it over several months when I had nothing better to do.  Too bad, because I love reading about the earliest humans.  (No romance here.  I'm sure there was along the way but he skipped that in favor of the square footage of dwellings, etc.)

Happy Reading and Happy Fourth!