I got my first Christmas card of the season today, from Ginnie.

She and her husband Bill worked where I did and introduced me to the Costco dining experience. We went during lunch and had hot dogs. For next to nothing we got full bellies and enjoyed a good chat.

After that I returned many times and the experience was always pleasant.

Those two brought a sense of moral surity to the business that employed us, and it felt like a pretty decent place to work. When Bill retired a few years later, I put out resume’s and prepared to jump ship.

Retirement didn’t sit any better with them than thier first time had so they came back. It was good, because I was entertaining a tempting offer with a big thriving company.

In the end, I went away. Bill succumbed to heart problems a couple months ago having worked another almost 17 years. He and his sweetheart were so close in their hearts that his passing was like pulling a flower whose roots are intertwined with the one next to it. Ginnie does not like the change and I don’t blame her.

We got word last month that Janet also expired. After 86 years, she was probably running late. She worked in the same business as us for quite a number of years just plugging along. She was old then! The boss saw how she slept at her break times, leaned back in her chair as still as stone. He said, “if she dies, just don’t say anything till after the shift.” He’d look at her and say, “Is she dead?”

Her dying would cause a productivity drain because everyone would throw away the rest of the work day crying or talking as they texted the news  and informed facebook.

My grandparents began dying off when I was four with some lasting till I was in my forties. Dad made it out months ago aged 82.

The younger set don’t take that route. Instead of dying, they go to college and never move back.

Those my age take the middle ground. When I was married to an incompatable individual I accurately refer to as ‘number two’, I escaped observation long enough to visit my best friend after a lapse of over a year. The woman in his house said, “oh them. They moved to Hillsboro a few months ago.”

Eventually I found him and stayed in better touch.

Death, circumstance, and opportunity does relocate people. Not everyone, thankfully. My friend eventually moved back and two of the kids haven’t left yet.

I’m on good terms with people. They’re not leaving me. When they leave, they’re just building where they must land.

Kids, neighbors, the pets – eventually they all die or leave some way or another. You may read a murky darkness in this, but you shouldn’t. In places and lives where people don’t endure change or face upheaval some have regrets. Serious misgivings beset those who think they lost opportunities or squandered their chances.

Change is critical. No change means no improvement. I, sometimes grudgingly, accept that. It’s absolutely true.

Speaking of which, I am working on my web site again. Eventually one will exist where none ever had. There’s the positive side of change. We meet and create.  A friend is just a stranger you’ve grown to love. Every one I “lose” is someone I once gained.

Thankfully, we the living  keep in touch pretty well. We telephone, text, facebook, and travel to see each other. Sometimes I even write letters – the paper kind with a stamp and envelope.

Departures and separations of loved ones are among the unpleasant realities here. I won’t miss any of that in the next world!