Gone but not Forgotten

Wow! It appears as I haven't posted in 3 months! Isn't that something....how funny that I pick today!
I should be baking cookies. (But I am sitting at the computer watching my favorite site--Hip2Save.  Collin is doing Christmas Giveaways all day!!!)  Cookies are my thing. It's what I do at this time of year! I usually deliver them to close friends on Christmas Eve but I won't be doing that this year. It's changed! It's all changed!

Don't worry guys! I am delivering cookies....just earlier.

But that's what brings me to this post! My daughter read a saying to me yesterday and I had her print it. It speaks volumes to my life right now. I actually told her to print it on the cards at my funeral! It sounds funny now but I recently had to carry out one of those last requests!  Anyhow....
There is someone out there talking trash--yes, I know who you are. It's cheer drama--STILL. I can stop coaching but I can't stop the drama. In the scheme of things, it doesn't matter. A dear friend of mine has passed. We weren't best friends. We didn't always agree and I loved her anyway--for who she was and for how she "believed" in me. No one can tarnish our relationship or take it away. She will be with us all--ALWAYS.

A dearly loved tradition has also passed. It is what it is. Something else that has changed in my world and I truly have no control over it. I guess nothing really does last forever. After 23 years, I just thought it would. No worries! It leaves room for new traditions! That's what every ending is--right--a new beginning.

Thanks 2011--for teaching me to persevere! For reminding me, when the going gets tough-- the tough get going.

So here it goes....here's the saying:

thanks to those who hated me;
     you made me a better person.
thanks to those who loved me;
     you made my heart grow fonder.
thanks to those who envied me;
     you made my self-esteem grow stronger.
thanks to those who cared;
     you made me feel important.
thanks to those who entered my life;
     you made me who I am today. (Perhaps on the card, it should say who I was...:))
thanks to those who left;
     you showed me that nothing lasts forever.
thanks to those who stayed;
     you showed me the true meaning of
          love and friendship!