June 12 and Day 3: Retirement can be Lonely!

We are a one car family, so when Jim takes off, the walls just echo back at me. I didn’t expect that.

Last week my sisters and I had lunch up in Owego; it was wonderful – that comfortable picking up of where we left off the last time, and honestly, I can’t tell you how long ago that was.  Peg and Sue both live at least an hour and a half away, so we don’t just call up every week and make coffee dates. 

What I realized this afternoon is how much my colleagues had filled that need in my life, the one sisters fill. At work, we regularly shared, not just the comforting fragrance of fresh brewed coffee every morning – thank you Summer and Beth and Karen or Sharon, but our morning cup of coffee, chatting as we filled our cups or made sure everyone got one.  A new recipe – we shared.  A family emergency - we shared and prayed together and held each other.  A national emergency, like 9/11 - we shared in the same way. Fun pictures of grandchildren or nieces and nephews, we shared too, and laughed, and bragged and were grateful for each other.

Today it struck me how much I miss them – Karen and Sharon and Beth and Summer, and my sisters, Peggy and Susan, and I think that is how it should be.  We are part of a body, not just the BBC family or the Brennan family, but the body of Christ, and we are supposed to need each other, to love each other.

In the past, Caryl was my work-sister and so was Marcia.  I loved them, and they made the workplace a pleasure. All of these women loved God, so we had a real and sweet bond. So today I wonder how God is going to fill that void in my life.  I remember, in Africa, I would go weeks without seeing another adult American woman, someone who shared my history and culture, so I know God will meet that need…I am just really interested in seeing how He does it this time.