oh.

there's a funeral tomorrow. for my dear friend's dad. it just breaks my heart. i feel so sad for her and her mom and sister.

i have such great memories of her dad - crazy dad's weekends at college. her wedding, parties, his great stories. he was a wonderful story teller, you see. the kind that you don't run into these days.

i'll miss his stories and him. but his memory will stay with me. i'm searching for a picture to post with this. and i'll post it as soon as i can find one. digging through all those old memories takes time and reflection. and reflect is what i'm doing. and thinking. and sending prayers and hugs to my friend and her family.

WILD GEESE

Mary Oliver

You do not have to be good,

You do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting,

You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves.

Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.

Meanwhile, the world goes on,

Meanwhile, the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain are moving across the landscapes,

Over the prairies and the deep trees, the mountains and the rivers,

Meanwhile, the wild geese, high in the clean blue air are heading home again.

Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,

The world offers itself to your imagination.

Calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting,

Over and over announcing your place in the family of things.