Seven Years Ago, My Friend Was Found Dead

Seven years ago today, one of my best friends was found dead in her apartment. If she were alive today, she would be forty-nine years old. I wonder what we would be like now.Hopefully, we would still be calling each other to vent, laugh, and wonder about things.  Her life was not easy, but I bet if she would have lived, things would have become much better for her. I miss her and think about her everyday. I wish I could get the answers I am looking for about the mystery surrounding both her life and her death. I will probably keep searching for the truth for a very long time. I am worried that I will forget the important details needed to solve the puzzle of who she really was and why she actually died. I wish I could have one more chance to talk to her. If I could have had that seven years ago, she might still be around. R.I.P., Kaitlyn.

The Importance of Friends

Something that my mother-in-law said to me when she was visiting us at Christmas has been bugging me. When I was lamenting the fact that I missed my friends back in Indiana, she said, "Friends are over-rated." At the time, I thought it was a strange and rather un-helpful statement to make to someone who was clearly homesick and lonely. Anyway, she says a lot of puzzling things that I just have to forget, but this one has stuck with me all this time. Part of the reason it has been dogging me is because I don't believe it's true, and also because my husband, through the years, has also said similar things to me. He has never really put much value on friendships like I have and now I know why. The longer I am married to this man, the more I see how differently our families functions, and what things our indiviual families valued. Even though I hate to admit it, I am awfully thankful I am from the family I came from. I think friendship is something humans can live without, but I don't think you live very well or very happily without friends. I feel terrible to say this, but right now, in this place, I have no friends. Sure, I have acquaintences here: my girls' teachers, a few friendly people at the church I am attending, and two neighbors, but these people while being friendly are not true friends. There isn't anyone here that I can just call to talk to, or to ask to see a movie or go shopping with. It's all very strange to me. I have been finding myself craving adult interaction, but there just isn't any to be had other than my husband, and these days, he's just not all that interesting to me; just too much of a downer to be around him. I guess the good thing is that I still have friends in Indiana so when we eventually get back there, I won't have to start all over in the friend department. In my opinion, friends are just as important as family and I miss having them.