Saturday night was one big ole party, my high school reunion - my 50th. Please humor me by looking shocked. But what a great evening. Big picture wise, it was all the good words that you hope you can say the morning after anything. I also found myself thinking about the individual lives of our classmates. One came all the way from Oregon to attend. She was my houseguest for a few days so we had a chance to really talk about things in the context of the reunion. Pam made th

Even though I know the reality of life, the news of someone's death still surprises me somehow. By now I've lived through a stack of personal losses - you probably have too - grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles, husband, cousins, friends, acquaintances. But a death last week reminded me of a relationship I've never experienced. A friend with two sisters and a brother just lost her older sister. Our friendship is ancient and so over the years I've come to know how close these