Thoughts from an Address Book

Today I am grateful for rest, good books to read, gravity to keep us stable. I am also grateful for a new address book. 

Our address book was getting old and cluttered, outdated and confusing. We got a new one as a gift at Christmas and I spent some time last weekend transferring addresses from the old to the new. 

In the process, my thoughts and emotions included:

*The sadness and grief as I came across the names of family members who have died in recent years. Some, like two of my aunts, no longer need a spot in the address book at all. Others, like my sister and one of my brothers-in-law no longer need their spouses listed with them. 

*Have you ever considered the addresses of deceased loved ones? Wondered where they reside?  I know that part of each of them resides in me, in my heart. 

*More sadness, and also some peace, as I put Mom's nursing home address "officially" in the book, thinking that the next new book will likely not need a spot for her either. 

*And there are those who have divorced, some who have remarried. Big changes. Necessary changes. Often happy changes after the struggles. 

*Some smiles as I attempted to count the times my one niece and her boyfriend have moved in recent years. Mobile youth. Thanks for making a mess of my address book :-)  You aren't the only ones who have moved, but you get the prize for most often. 

*And with each name and family I wrote down, I thought about them. I extended gratefulness to them and to our shared journeys. Young and old. Infants and college-aged. Nieces and nephews established and heading toward middle age themselves. Long-time friends and new additions. Siblings with addresses that haven't changed in decades. 

It all adds up to meaning in my life. Addresses written in a book. People written on my heart.