I am the kind person has created a life trail. What this means is that I keep things from different periods of my life like a trail of bread crumbs just in case I get lost and need to find my way back. Today I found a church bulletin from 1992 with the name and phone number of a woman I knew back then.
We worked together and were very close. She lived here but her long time boy friend lived somewhere else. I was newly divorced and we met during a work out class our company sponsored in the cafeteria once a week. Ironically they cancelled the class because they said they could feed the entire building cake for what they were paying teacher for our class. You got to have your priorities.
My friend was a person that was exactly who she was no matter what. I remember in class when we were doing leg lifts with weights she would groan loudly with every lift. She asked me one time if I was feeling pain and I remember saying " I guess I am a silently sufferer." This is so true.
She was also a fundamentalist christian and was in conflict with the fact her boyfriend didn't want to get married. She was dedicated to her beliefs and I remember going to her house and her mirror was covered with scriptures. I liked that about her that she was all in no excuses or apologies.
Once she talked me into going to a women's Bible study. This was a serious study and the woman running it was very strict. No talking and you had to come into the auditorium single file. I felt like it was a group that was trying to keep women doing what they thought the Bible said they should do.
After the way I was raised this militant study of the Bible definitely didn't appeal to me.
Another time she invited me to lunch to meet a women from her church. I agreed and the woman was nice enough and lunch was fine. She gave me some pamphlets to look at and invited me to church. Later I found out she was the leader of a group that converts gay people to straight. I wonder now whether my friend thought I had a girl crush on her. If I did I didn't know it. I was newly divorced and lonely. My husband took all his drinking friends and their wives with him.
I had not found Al-Anon yet and with my husband gone there was a huge void from the drama he took with him. I had a lot of time on my hands and it was good to have a new friend.
She did get married and move away but sadly he died suddenly only a few short years later. The last time I spoke to her she was going on a date with a veterinarian. That worked out for her I guess I saw on face book they are married and he just retired. I was happy that she found someone so quickly. She was always a kind and generous person to me.
She would be happy with me now I have started reading the Bible again. I have studied many religions so I thought I should commit to the reading it as an adult. My family treated me with indifference most of my like claiming to be loving Christians the whole time. I never wanted to associate myself with their beliefs. I didn't want to be like them. I have finally grown up and found my own way. I no longer reject my upbringing and associate everything spiritual with them.
It has been an interesting read. I have my old Living Bible from my teen years. I even made a groovy cover for it back then. I am sure people would say it isn't the real Bible because it is interpreted into common language. In my youth I color coded with three different highlight markers the whole Bible. I have no idea what the different colors mean now. I have always had a thing for school supplies so it could mean nothing. The bulletin fell out of this Bible. Funny huh?
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