I was going to post this one over the weekend but my weekend went totally insanely busy. There was quite a bit of hurry-up-and-wait, but that's life in LA.

I would have posted this in my last post, wrapping up last week, but I had a feeling that this was going to eb a significant post deserving of it's own entry.

Among my many activities over the past week, I attended a visitation/viewing for Stuart, Kenny's brother. Stuart is one of three people that I knew personally who have passed away within two months. I think that has put me in an unusual state of mind, pondering much about my friends, about the people I know, and about family an my past.

Here is some of what I have pondered, especially during and after the visitation. Kenny and his family are all sincere, wonderful people. Everyone seemed very happy and a bit surprised to see me, but mostly very appreciative of me being there. There were tears happening, and lots of hugging, and lots of talking, but also lots of smiling. Everyone was being very supportive of everyone else. Stu and Gigi have been through a lot, and I'm glad I was able to be there for them. Stu (Kenny's Dad) still managed to make me laugh, and Gigi (Kenny's Mom) made me smile with the family stories she was telling. There was an overall good feeling all around. There was upbeat music. Conversations about writing and reaading, gaming and acupuncture, and of course, family and Stuart. Kenny had a healthy caring-yet-zen approach from what it appeared, and was doing his best to keeping things from becoming sorrowful. Everyone looked great, including Stu and Gigi, whom I haven't seen since Kenny's wedding. If they've gotten older in the past, gosh, 8 or more years that I've known them, I haven't noticed. I really have always taken it apon myself to be supportive for my friends, and was glad I could be there.

I met Kenny, and his family, when I was in highschool, and I owe a lot of my growing up and success to them. At a time where much of my life was a bit on the dysfunctional level, Kenny was a great guy to be able to lean on, and his family made up for a lot of what my family lacked. Everything from advice on striking out on my own, to relationships, to pushing myself to go to college and take on challenging interests, owes credit to them all. So much has happened since then. I've grown up a lot, and I've seen Kenny grow up a bit too, even though he always swore he would get older but not grow up. ;) It's a good kind of growing up though, nothing too drastic, and suits him just fine. :) He couldn't have found a better match than Jenn, and I cannot believe that they've almost been married for two years already.

I don't show nearly enough appreciation to those who have been significant supports in my life, and it often takes me a while to realize who exactly really fits into that category. I'm looking at things differently now, a little broader, paying more attention to detail. Maybe it's just a phase, maybe it should stick around. *shrug* It's Monday, it's less than an hour before I take off for the day, I've done a lot of stressful catch up from this weekend as far as pending company and custoemr issues, but all in all, I'm in a good mood about it.

By the way, Jenn and Christine, you guys looked great too!