Had an experience on FB yesterday that literally kept me up all night. Feelings of excitement, new opportunities, possibly new relationships...

Michael is a bit introverted and puts no effort into maintaining purely social and emotional relationships. He has no lasting friendships not cultivated and maintained by his wife, and has a tendency to blow people off for years unless it benefits him to renew contacts with them.

My youngest son, Tod, by contrast, had many friends and was widely loved. He did not care about people's beliefs, life styles, social status, etc., and never used anyone for personal gain. He simply loved others and was loved in return.

Yesterday on FB, I "met" one of Tod's friends. We have been friends on FB for a long time and I thought she was an alumni from Our Lady of the Highlands (OLH). Turns out she is one of Tod's close friends and she and Tod regarded each other like brother and sister! She has even been to my house although I do not remember her. Was I ever surprised when her son referred to Tod as his uncle! She has known Tod since high school, attended his wedding, and she and her husband visited Tod and Annie after they moved to Coco Beach and attended Tod's funeral service. She is also a close friend of Brian's- the young man whom I recently wrote about who treated me like his mother.

I must meet her and her family! I don't know why I feel this sense of excitement, but anyone whom Tod loved enough to call 'family' I should accept as such too. She is a born-again Christian and invited me a bible study at her house. Maybe not for a first meet...

By the way, that makes me smile as it affirms my son's openness and acceptance of all to me. Tod and Annie practiced Wicca for a time (her beliefs), and while he lived in NYC, he attended a Mosque and was trying to learn Arab so he could recite the Koran in its original tongue. Tod believed in God but did not believe any one religion defined the path to Him.

Jennifer sent me these pictures of her and her husband, Kirk, from one of their visits to Tod and Annie in Coco Beach a few months before he died.