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It\u2019s almost eight years since my amazing husband Sig passed away. I will love him for the rest of my life.\u00a0 He doesn\u2019t even have to be here for me to continue to feel this way.\u00a0 Thankfully, I am coasting on all our shared memories we made over decades.\u00a0 He was my best friend, and I am fortunate enough to have had many other friends over my lifetime.\u00a0 But the saddest thing about the aging process is that slowly, but surely, we begin to lose the people we love and admire.\u00a0 They move away, change jobs and die.<\/p>\n
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I still communicate with grammar and high school friends and the many friends I\u2019ve met throughout my life. At 76, I know how to recognize someone that I might like to invite into my life.\u00a0 I have given teas and lunches for my lady friends for over forty years.\u00a0 Those teas became the place where I and friends came to re-charge our batteries.\u00a0 We talked about everything from soup to nuts but never men.\u00a0 We laughed and cried together and taught each other how to navigate the rough patches.<\/p>\n
When we get married, we exchange vows and say, \u201cTill death do us part\u201d.\u00a0 Of course when this as written, people only lived into what we call middle age.\u00a0 The longer we are together, the more we understand who we are, who are spouses are and if we\u2019re still on the same page!\u00a0 After 25 years together, that\u2019s when the love part really has to kick in.\u00a0 There are no illusions about one another and if you\u2019re lucky you still remember what made you pick your mate.<\/p>\n
![\"seniors](\"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/traveltip3.jpg\")
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If you go back five years and remember what seemed important, and go back another five years and so forth, you will \u00a0come to understand that the things you felt so strongly about have diminished and no longer are part of your belief system.\u00a0 It\u2019s really a good thing if you feel good in your own skin, and know how to share your space and have no expectations of the people you love and admire.\u00a0 I have the right to ask, and you have the right to say no and I take this right for myself.\u00a0 That\u2019s my personal can\u2019t miss system for the friendships I have.\u00a0 It took me a while to understand that being able to say no to anyone was a necessity.<\/p>\n
The last luncheon I gave was for a dear friend who is moving to Texas.\u00a0 I used to have 12 to 14 people come for teas.\u00a0 The last one was attended by four people including me!\u00a0 So many of my friends have passed away or moved away, and some suffer from Alzheimer\u2019s and conversations just don\u2019t happen.\u00a0 And, I don\u2019t know which is worse of those three things.<\/p>\n
Personally, I\u2019m going for quality of life, not quantity.\u00a0 I want to be around as long as I can get around and make it to the john!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It\u2019s almost eight years since my amazing husband Sig passed away. I will love him for the rest of my life.\u00a0 He doesn\u2019t even have to be here for me to continue to feel this way.\u00a0 Thankfully, I am coasting on all our shared memories we made over decades.\u00a0 He was my best friend, and …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":2079,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[343],"tags":[340,333,341,336,342],"class_list":["post-2030","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dear-heather","tag-aging","tag-dear-heather","tag-friends","tag-friendship","tag-marriage"],"yoast_head":"\n