ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE OF SLEW OF DEATHS--

YES, IN ONE YEAR'S TIME NOW I'VE LOST 8 FRIENDS AND MY FAMILY HAD DIED. THAT'S 8 PEOPLE THAT I WILL NEVER TALK TO AGAIN/ BECAUSE OF OLD AGE AND ILLNESSES THEIR SOULS ARE IN HEAVEN. SOME LEFT LINGERING ALONG UNTIL THE END--WHILE OTHERS SUDDENLY PARISHED AT ONCE. IT WAS ALL SHOCKING NONETHELESS.

THEY CONSISTED OF CHURCH FRIENDS, FAMILY, AND NEIGHBORLY SOULS. A WHOLE SLEW OF FOLKS JOINING THE RANKS OF MY MOTHER--THERE WERE EIGHT OF THEM IN ONE YEAR'S TIME NOW THIS PAST YEAR. I GO THROUGH MY ADDRESS BOOK AS CAN SEE THAT I NEED A NEW ONE TO REPLACE MY OLD WARN ONE.

THESE GOOD FOLKS WILL NEVER BE REPLACED BUT I CAN TRY TO FIND OTHER NEW AQUAINTENCES AT A COMMUNITY SENIOR CENTER NEAR ME--A FIVE-MINUTE DRIVE. LUCKILY IT IS SPRING AND MORE PEOPLE ARE OUT AND AROUND MY APARTMENT COMPLEX WALKING DOGS OR ALONE. I SEE PEOPLE STROLLING ALONG AND SOME WITH DOGS ON LEASHES IN FRONT ON THE WALKS..

I KNOW THAT MORE AND MORE PEOPLE WILL COMPLETE THEIR LIFEF CYCLES CONTINUALLY SO--AS THEY ARE GETTING UP THERE IN AGE-- THE GOLDEN AGES. BUT, SOME TO GET DISEASE AND ILLNESSES CUTTING THEIR LIFE SHORT OF THE GOLDEN AGE. IT HAS LEFT ME WITH JUST A HANDFUL OF PEOPLE THAT KNOW ME AND KNOW MY FAMILY AND WHERE I CAME FROM.

SOMETIMES DURING PRAYER I CAN'T REMEMBER ALL 8 THAT PARISHED LAST YEAR NOW--AND THEN LATER REMEMBER WHEN I LOOK ON MY LIST OF WHEN THEY LEFT US. I WILL KEEP ANOTHER CALENDAR AND MARK IT WHEN I LEARN OF ANOTHER PASSING IN ANOTHER YEAR'S TIME NOW.

I'M GETTING A NEW ADDRESS BOOK SOON FOR ALL MY FRESH 'NEW' FRIENDS AND FAMILY MEMBERS TO CORRESPOND TO. I WILL ACTIVELY SEEK NEW NEIGHBORS, FRIENDS AND FAMILY AND CHURCH AND SENIOR CENTER GOERS. AND KEEP MY NEW ADDRESS BOOK HANDY AND UP TO DATE. WE HAVE TO SEEK AND MEET FOR HAPPINESS.