i been thinking about different people in my life

and how they move in and out of my life
i always quote that saying

'People come into your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. When you figure out which one it is, you
will know what to do for each person.
When someone is in your life for a REASON . . . It is usually to meet a need you have expressed. They have come to assist you through a difficulty, to provide you with guidance and support, to aid you physically, emotionally, or spiritually. They may seem like a godsend, and they are! They are there for the reason you need them to be.
Then, without any wrong doing on your part, or at an inconvenient time, this person will say or do something to bring the relationship to an end.
Sometimes they die.
Sometimes they walk away.
Sometimes they act up and force you to take a stand.
What we must realise is that our need has been met, our desire fulfilled, their work is done. The prayer you sent up has been answered. And now it is time to move on.
When people come into your life for a SEASON . . .Because your turn has come to share, grow, or learn.
They bring you an experience of peace, or make you laugh.
They may teach you something you have never done.
They usually give you an unbelievable amount
of joy. Believe it! It is real! But, only for a season.
LIFETIME relationships teach you lifetime lessons; things you must build upon in order to have a solid  emotional foundation. Your job is to accept the lesson, love the person, and put what you have learned to use in all other relationships and areas of your life. '

i swear as i grow older i find that more and more true. i have had relatives move in and out of my life, bernie always says to me when they move out of my life 'they got what they wanted, it was time to move on'

i often wonder what exactly i am to learn from that
and that it is a lesson on a cosmic level i have no doubt.
but i just wonder what it is exactly?
could it be that even if we are related, if there is no real connection there it doesn't matter?
or is it......
we are truly only connected by love, and we don't get to chose our relatives but we FIND our real family in friends?
or is it........
maybe their times and lessons in my life ARE over and bernie is pretty much right (cynical but right)
the odd thing is that somehow if i really want to know, i find out stuff about them and their lives.
maybe that is an 'ask and ye shall be answered' thing or what
finding me isn't too hard, but you actually have to look a bit with the right information i think.
and they have

i sometimes think of the gatherings when i was a kid, there was good and bad.
i cherish the times here when family and close friends have gathered around our very cramped table in the living room and ate and laughed and talked.
they are tiny shining bright spots in my life
and i so could have that weekly or even daily
but maybe then i would not appreciate them for the very special gifts that they are......moments out of time.

anyway, it's 2am, and that's what i am thinking of while i wait for the wood stove to heat enough to go back to bed
(tomorrow it may be parallel universes at 2am........who knows where my mind is half the time. it's not always easy being me)