Thank you for the lesson

Today is the birthday of my mother's best friend, who died eight years ago of cancer. I have been trying to remember my dreams recently, and I realize that last night I had a dream that I was in a hospital bed and my mother told me I had cancer and then walked out of the room, which caused me both anger and sorrow in the dream. I was also going to be transferred to a different hospital and I worried that my mother couldn't find me there.

My relationship with the woman whose birthday is today was complicated, as she was essentially my mother's partner in life - eating dinner with us every night, accompanying us on vacation, etc. - even though she did not live with us. She and I did not get along when I was growing up. I think my emotional nature and need for my mother's attention vied with my mother's friend's need for rationality and also my mother's attention. Additionally, she did not have children of her own, nor siblings, so she may not have understood children very well (never mind teenagers, whom few can understand anyway). Also, I was not easy.

Later, when this woman was diagnosed with cancer, I decided to let "bygones be bygones" and start over with her. We ended up quite close, and she was like another grandmother to my children when she died. I am grateful that we were able to resolve our differences in this lifetime. I came to appreciate and even love this person and I miss her presence in my life. When I think of her, I am reminded that as long as I have breath in my body, there is an opportunity to forgive and to evolve. It is never too late. Happy Birthday, Dear Friend. Thank you for being one of my teachers in Earth School.