Last Saturday was strange and beautiful. I'd curled into Joe's arms that morning, crying over the latest news of Sybil, as he rubbed my back and hair. After a while the tears stopped, and I felt... not okay. Just not like crying, for the time being.

Very shortly afterwards, the phone rang. I didn't really want to talk to anyone, but I checked to see who it was anyway. Once I saw the name, I knew I had to answer - It was Angela! I couldn't believe it. About a week earlier, I'd decided to stop fretting about having lost contact with her. I thought to myself, I KNOW I won't lose Angela forever. Even if it's two or ten years from now, I know we'll reconnect somehow, because we always do, and we're supposed to be in each other's lives. So I just decided to stop worrying. And all of a sudden I was talking to her! It had been months since I'd last spoken to her, and of course, as always, we picked up right where we left off. She said, "So, tell me - How ARE you? How are you doing?"

"Well," I said, and immediately choked up. I decided to just tell her, "Bad, actually. I'm having a really bad day." And I was instantly in tears.

"Oh no," she said. "Maybe I sensed you needed a friend. What's wrong?"

So I told her about Sybil, who she knew about from other conversations we'd had. And she was so supportive. Angela's boyfriend recently lost someone close to him, too, so she'd been experiencing and watching grief and mourning as well. We talked about death and life and a myriad of other subjects. I got her new cell phone number, and we are officially re-connected! After I got off the phone with her, I was floating on air. She is truly like a sister to me, and it felt wonderful to have finally spoken with her again.

I sat down with Joe to watch some t.v. for a while when the phone rang yet again. I didn't recognize the number, so I let it go to voicemail. When I checked the message, I found out that it was my brother, Wyatt. He sounded good, like he was in a happy mood, and said, "I just have some news to tell you, so give me a call when you get the chance."

I was surprised to hear from him, since my family usually emails each other. I thought it must be pretty important for him to call! So I called him back and he said, "You know that link you sent to the family mailing list? Well, that was appropriate timing, because Alyssa's pregnant!"

"OH MY GOD!" I said with total shock and glee. "CONGRATULATIONS!!!"

He laughed and said, "Thanks!"

We talked for a while more, about the baby (due in October), moving (they're getting a bigger place this summer), and life in general. It was nice talking to him, especially about such a happy subject.

After I got off the phone with him, I told Joe the news, who was excited for them, too.

It just seemed to me like an awesome and powerful message from the universe. A reminder than even in the face of death, life continues. At the very least, it's an incredible example of how things intertwine. As I was losing one friend, another came back into my life. And as one friend's life was ending, a new one was just beginning. Life is so amazing.