Transitions

Tomorrow morning, a friend and co-worker will be notifying her boss that she is retiring in June. During the final weeks of school, she will be clearing out her office, saying "good bye" and riding into the sunset of retirement.

A few days ago, I received a text message from a close friend whose mother had just arrived in heaven.

All over this nation, millions of people are experiencing intense, unexpected transitions--jobs being lost or hours cut, homes being lost or in negotiations to be saved--in so many ways--good or bad--transitions become defining moments in our lives.

Over the last 3 and a half years, I have experienced what has been--and surely will be--the most difficult transition of my life. Losing my mother, sister and father in such a short span has not been easy. Some days are better than others. I am a changed person. My world has truly been "rocked".

This summer I will spend in Pasadena removing my parents' lives from the house in which I was raised since I was 5 years old. In the meantime, I continue to press forward in the "details" of settling estate issues.

When a spouse dies, the survivor is faced with a choice: remarry or remain single. In much the same way, I have chosen to become "readopted". Before you ask what I was smoking for lunch, let me explain.

The day after my father passed away in January, I received an email from a very good friend. His family had, over the years, already become like an extended family. The email was basically explaining that his family (his wife and four children) had decided they wanted to "invite" me to join their family. Up until that time, I had been "Uncle John" to the kids. But they voted, and decided I would become their older brother. This is amusing, in that their dad is two years younger than I am.

To try to explain in words what it meant to me to receive an email like that would be impossible. I am SO incredibly thankful to God for blessing me with friends like this--and others--who are helping me through this major life transition.

No, nothing, no one could ever come close to "replacing" the family I grew up with, who adopted me as an infant. But I do know that my mom and dad would be thrilled to know that I will still have friends I can now call family, that I won't be "stranded" on holidays, that this transition is just that--a transition from one period of life to another.

"Life is what happens while you're making other plans" . . .not sure who said it, but my favorite quote by far!