everything comes full circle

I've lost two friends this year, both very tragic and unexpected.

I wrote a blog recently about one of my friends, Ben. His girlfriend/fiancee is at home now, resting comfortably and rehabilitating herself daily to get back on her feet. She knows Ben is gone, and she has her good days and bad days, friends say. I can't even begin to imagine what that must be like.

Back in September, my best friend from high school lost her husband. It was totally unexpected, a blood clot. He'd had surgery, and he was having a little trouble, but he was at home. Before we knew it, he was gone.

I was the maid of honor in their wedding, and I practically lived with her all through school and vice versa. It was one of the hardest things, to try and comfort someone who has lost the man they'd hoped to spend the rest of their life with. They would have been married three years in October. He would've turned 26 in September.

She gave birth to their beautiful son (I'm not biased or anything) on Thursday, Dec. 14.

When her husband first passed, I thought it would be harder to raise the baby with him gone. Now I know that the baby will make her stronger, and that is what has helped her all this time.

Working at Red Lobster, we have a lot of usuals that come in. Many of these are older couples. I've gotten very close to many of them, and it is so very hard when they don't come in any more. It's even harder when one of them spouses returns without their partner.

I remember one man in particular who would always come in with his wife, occasionally joined by their daughter and granddaughter. His wife was loud and colorful; everyone knew who they were.

We soon found out that she had cancer. The first time he came in alone, it was heartbreaking.

But in recent months, I've noticed him coming in with another "lady friend," if you will. It's definitely not the same, but I see him look at her with such adoration and love. My only hope is to find that once in my life.

I wonder if my other friends who have lost that special person will ever be able to carry on to find that again.

I didn't mean for this to be a sad, mourning blog, but I have just been thinking about how everything comes around full circle. People die, every day, but in that same respect, every day, babies are born and new relationships are started.

I think that sometimes life is a hard road, one full of bumps and potholes that seem to be neverending. But one thing is for sure - it's not a dead end.