Sadness Tempered with Blessings

Sadness Tempered with Blessings

Sadness Tempered with Blessings

I have been thinking a lot lately about how my life has really changed and how the sadness of these last six months (six months exactly as I type this) has been tempered with blessings. I don’t have any biological family living near me. One sister and two brothers live in Huntington, W.Va., one sister lives in North Carolina and one sister spends her time between Florida in the winter and Montreal Canada (as a missionary) in the summer.  My sisters check in with me regularly as does my husband’s family. But I have a work family.  Many people go to work and wouldn’t even consider their co-workers as “family”.  I have been at Bordas & Bordas for 28 1/2 years.  Some of my co-workers have worked here over 25 years.  We have shared joy and sadness.  In that time, I have attended high school graduations, college graduations, marriages and shared in the joy of the birth of children, some of whom are now having children of their own! We have experienced the death of parents and grandparents and in my case, the death of my husband in June. When my husband died suddenly in June, the whole firm of Bordas & Bordas - partners, associate attorneys and staff - were supportive and comforting to me.  They were my family away from family. Linda Bordas was with me the entire day that my husband was in ICU and Jim Bordas brought food to the ICU waiting room so we wouldn’t have to leave.    I knew everyone at the firm was praying for me and thinking about me.  I cannot imagine how anyone could go through this alone. But that’s not the only non-biological family I have.  I have my church family. Pastor Darrin was with me as much as possible in the ICU Unit and met me at 3:30 a.m. after the hospital called and told me my husband had taken a turn for the worse.  My church family has held me up and comforted me when I thought I couldn’t go on.  They have prayed for me, fed me and showered me with love and attention.  I attend First Baptist Church of Wheeling where I am the organist.  Not a Sunday goes by, even six months later, that someone doesn’t stop and ask me how I am doing.  I don’t have to say “fine”; I can tell them the truth and cry. Several other women have gone through the same thing and understand how hard it is to live alone after 50 years with someone.  We used to sing a song by Bill Gaither that says: You will notice we say "brother and sister" 'round here, It's because we're a family and these folks are so near;  When one has a heartache, we all share the tears, And rejoice in each victory in this family so dear. I believe that if everyone stopped to evaluate their friends and co-workers, they too would discover that they are more like family than we could imagine.  My co-workers have seen me in every light possible – and still speak to me!  Cranky, tired, happy, giddy, silly -- you name it, they’ve seen it in me and still care about me.   That’s what family does. So, while I would love to see more of my “real” sisters and brothers, I have “family” around me all the time.