"TRUTH IS"

I notice on facebook, and this seems to be mostly from the younger people, something called "Truth is" when someone starts with those two words and then shares something about someone else. It is usually a positive or encouraging statement. So "Truth is", life changes. That covers it really, life, all of life changes. Sometimes good, sometimes, not so much, but all the time, it changes. When I was a teenager, I spent hours on Friday nights "cruising" the local streets. Somtimes it was alone but mostly with one friend or another or even several. Seems the more we had in the car the more roudy we got, not bad, just a little loud, harmless(for the most part),fun. Haven't cruised late on Friday nights much in the last 35 years. But I did this past Friday night. I was waiting for some news on the health of a friend and when the news finally came, it was simply "not the good news we had hoped for...details later". You might as well of slammed a 2 X 4 in my gut. I sat on the couch, numb. Finally, I asked permission to leave the premises. I know that riding out on a Friday night at my age after 11:00 might not sound like the best idea, but for me, it was my theoropy. I still live in the same town I have always lived in. Almost fifty seven years and I am the only one in my family who never left. So, I have this thing I do on special days like Holidays and such. I simply drive around "my" town. Passing by places I lived and played and worked and grew. Houses, buildings, playgrounds, etc. In fact, I seldom ever visit cemetaries where the people I love are buried. In stead, I drive pass places that remind me of them. Places where memories spring forth that provoke smiles or tears or warmth or maybe even sober reminders. So Friday night, I simply "took my pill" ... I drove around "my town". Smiling here and tearing up there and remembering all in between. My theoropy includes houses that are gone, trees that have grown, parks that are no more, roads that have changed and expanded, stores that have closed, new places that replace the old ones. I remember favorite eating places and hangouts. I remember bicycle rides and blocks I jogged around and sidewalks that were my stage for performing life at it's fullest. The friend that I was thinking about when I left the house ... I drove by the place I remember first seeing him ... I drove by places that reminded me of him, houses he lived in, our favorite eating place that is no longer there, the front door of the house that served as an annex for a church where I stayed all night for a 24 hour prayer vigil when he first came into my life. I smiled, I laughed and I cried ... then I came home. Life is better and richer for me because of my friend. Life changes ... love strengthens ... tears cleanse and God is good ... All the Time! And "That's the Truth"!