Hugs All Around

After last night I feel like such a fool for complaining about my stressful week of home renos, lawyers & moving stuff. My best friend's mom passed away.

The Big V is one of those guys who is always there to talk or to help a friend out, but rarely talks about his own problems. He's the guy that my friends & I think of as a big brother - the guy you go to if you need a 5:00 a.m. ride to the airport & could trust with your bank stuff while you're away. Because he's the guy who takes care of everybody else & never asks for help, I had no idea his mom was so sick.

She was diagnosed with cancer about a year ago & he decided last week that he would move back home to help out his dad & just be around more. His parents are awesome - the type of family that welcomes everyone & makes you feel right at home. They were high school sweethearts & unlike a lot of older couples I know, really good friends too. The hardest part of all of this is that a few months ago the Big V wrote his mom a letter telling her how proud he was of her fight with cancer & thanking her for all the little (& big) ways she's been an awesome mom & helped shape his life. He kept waiting for the perfect time to give it to her, but her mental capacity declined so rapidly that he never got the chance.

I phoned my mom this morning (which scared the shit out of her since I *never* call this early) to tell her how much I love her & appreciate everything she did for me as a kid & still does today. We were both crying by the end of it, but in a good way. She was feeling sort of down this morning, still laying in bed & reading her bible before I phoned. A phone call from her daughter just to say "I love you" was just the thing she needed.

I have a wedding to attend in Calgary on July 1st & my entire family is coming up for it - both sisters, my nephews, aunts, uncles, cousins, everybody! It's the kind of thing I would've been dreading as a teenager since none of my friends would be there, but now I'm really looking forward to it. I'm so bad for picking up the phone & making an effort to keep in touch with family, especially my sisters. I do talk to my parents a lot, but even that is sort of selfish. They love me unconditionally & are always on my side, so even if I have to roll my eyes through a bit of church talk, it's still like phoning my own personal cheering section.

I'm rambling now & haven't had my coffee yet, but just wanted to let you know what happened to me last night. And remind you to give someone you love a squeeze today. *hug*