Uncertainty paid me a recent call. A wake-up call.
Over the last eight years, I’ve taken family weekends for granted. During this time my sisters and I have lived within a two-hour drive of each other, yet we’ve typically only found the time to make that drive four times a year. Or less.
But change is on the horizon. Now it appears that one family may have to relocate to a different job market. Another family awaits word of how a down-sizing will affect them.
This isn’t fair or unfair. This is life, I remind myself. Life isn’t predictable and those along for its journey cannot expect to remain complacent for too long. Which is exactly what I had allowed myself to become -- too comfortable – and what I pulled back from during a recent family get-together.
The family surrounding me, I tried to stretch each moment of the weekend as if I could keep it always before me in an elastic eternity. The words of my sisters hung in the air as I listened, not only to their shared stories and concerns, but also the tone and timbre of their voices. Even their arguments. In my nieces’ eyes, I relished the sparks of creativity and laughter … and I see these glints still. I cherished every embrace, however fleeting, and marveled at the caring conveyed by a touch.
For once, I was even content to play the observer as my brothers-in-law traded good-natured jabs. My witty repartee could wait.
I would love to see a bright sun mysteriously burst through the clouds that shroud the family's future and shine the light on answers that would keep my siblings and their families nearby. And that is what I'll pray for. Whether or not this happens, however, I am grateful for even the uncertainty of life which has caught me off-balance … the uncertainty that has made all I value precious again.
I could spot my older sister from across the room. And I shared first names with one of my classmates; by the end of Day One, Brenda R. had become my new best friend. 
Yesterday the realization hit: I was not teaching my cat how to play with a new toy, rather, my efforts were providing a good half hour's entertainment for her; a comedy show of sorts. She wasn't the one slow to catch on ... I was!
play-deprived feline new games. At first, she was fearful of the streamer-on-a-stick and suspicious of the various cloth and plastic balls ... but now she is very enthusiastic about both! Just this morning I was wakened by the sound of a bell-filled, catnip-infused burlap ball rolling down the hallway toward the bedroom.
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