So It Begins

  The furnace installer arrived this morning. Day one of two. He is doing a lot of the up and downing stairs to haul all the furnace accessories needed into the basement. He will putter away dismantling the old one until I have to leave for work. They will come back Monday to do the final install. He will have help to take the furnace itself into the basement. Which is good. It will give me the weekend to clear away some of the stored wood that is in the way.
  It feels odd to be sitting here, not helping, not doing anything. The fellow isn't exactly young. His weathered face doesn't reveal much about how old he might be. Ha! I forget that I am getting older, too. He may only be five or so years older than me!
  Perspective. It's all about perspective.

  It squashes the tentative plans I'd made to go to Sarnia for a couple of days. My daughter will be visiting her brother with the new baby and I'd hoped to be able to include myself in that. I have seen her twice since she arrived from Down East aka. Nova Scotia. Maybe we will be able to squeeze one more visit in before she leaves when she comes back  into the area.
 
  An old friend from high school came for a visit yesterday. She was also the maid of honour at my wedding. It was nice having her, a nurse, as my birthing coach when my son was born. It's been about five years since I'd seen her last so we had lots to catch up on: news of our now independent children, our folks, trips down memory lane and of course, the weather.
  We also talked about the desires both of us have to reconnect with old friends. Maybe it's because the frantic business of parenthood has vanished and we have the time.

  I just finished reading Mitch Albom's The Five People You Meet in Heaven. It's a story that has a place of honour among the few books I have on the keeper shelf. I've read it many times and every time, it tugs at my heart.
  It's about the people who pass through our lives on this beautiful blue ball. Sometimes we know they are part of the path life takes. Most often we aren't even aware how our lives intersect with others.
 
  "We prove ourselves by our purity, our understanding, our patience, our kindness, by the Holy Spirit within us, and by our sincere love." 2 Corinthians 6:6