You Never Know

Today we had a New Year's party and invited a lot of old friends we haven't seen in a long time. Most who came were people we knew when we were single, who got married about the same time we did and who had kids about the same time we had our two older ones. The older kids are in seventh and eighth grades now, and it was a shock to see how much some of them had grown. After a while, the talk among the adults turned to "have you heard of or seen......" Various old friends. One of my friends said something that gave me food for thought, something I'm going to share with you. She said "we never know how we have affected the people who come through our lives, whether for good or for bad". Being with old friends, especially this post-Katrina holiday, reminded me of all the people who have been in my life--family, friends, co-workers, students, Girl Scouts, fellow parents, fellow parishioners--the list goes on and on, and I pray that the effect I have had has been more good than bad. Happy New Year!