The companionship of significant women!!

This past month I have had the company of some of my favourite girlfriends. What a blessing they have been!!

A good friend sent me a wonderful book by the poet/author Luci Shaw entitled "God in the Dark: Through Grief and Beyond". It chronicles her journey with her husband Harold after his cancer diagnosis, death, and the grief that followed. Luci became my companion as we shared so many similarities in our experience and drew strength and peace from our same loving Heavenly Father. Reading her book was very cathartic and I made some significant steps forward in the continuing journey of processing Bob's passing and the new reality of life without him.

Then a week later, Barbie flew out to spend a week with me. Oh she is such a blessing to me in every way. There's nothing quite like a daughter!! She too was eager to see her dad's grave, so we went together and placed in the vase three delicate china roses that Bob and I were given when each of our children ("Rosebuds") were born many years ago. They will bloom all winter and have special significance.

We also celebrated Barbie's 42nd birthday together--November 16!! How can that be?? Chris Hopwood, another very special girlfriend, made us her famous "Mud Pie"!!

Just a few days later my two sisters-in-law, Vi and Lois, came for a fabulous four days together. The three of us have had quite a few "Sisters Weekends" together over the past few years in a variety of beautiful locations--Peru, Whistler, Palm Springs, Colorado Springs, and Victoria. We have always been close, but being together with Bob when he passed away has strengthened the bond between us even more. We all miss him so much. We chose this time to spend our weekend right here in my little "Rekindle Inn". I decorated early this year for Christmas so we enjoyed the cozy atmosphere of lights and candles and always delicious food and delightful conversation. Rehearsing memories, getting caught up on the present happenings in our lives, and sharing our dreams and desires for the future bring lots of encouragement and meaning to our time together.

We even drove up the Sea to Sky Highway to Squamish on Sunday afternoon and went down to White Rock Beach on Monday for fish and chips. And it never even rained once during their stay!!

Now the house is very quiet once again. But I won't be here for long as I'll be flying down to Oklahoma City in a week to spend ten days with Mom and Dad and the Bolerjacks. I'll return here on December 14th and then will be flying to Regina Christmas Day to be with all of our kids and grandkids for a week.

I'm wondering whether it's finally time to discontinue this blog, but will likely wait until after Christmas so that I can share news about my parents and our children.

Thanks everyone for sharing this journey with me. Your encouragement, companionship, and prayers have made the journey lighter!!