Gratitude Among Chosen Siblings

I have long called Mirta my sister of another mother. We grew close over the years she worked for our firm, and in the final year of my mother's life, she showered Sunny with love, the likes of which left me awed. Although she was in the midst of her mid life career change -- nursing school -- and caring for her 3 grandkids and living in far west Kendall -- she would travel each week to Miami Jewish Home to visit my mother. In doing so, the two grew very close, and Mirta thinks it's an amazing blessing in her life. Her beloved mother died years ago, and Sunny became one to her -- hence --we're siblings. I used to pay Mirta out of Sunny's trust, although she'd have made the visits for free. It turned out the payments were the best use of Sunny's money -- when she died, the funds she had left all went to pay the Medicaid lien. At least she got the benefit of visits with some of those monies... When the end came for Sunny, Mirta slept in her room, by her side -- making sure the hospice people did their jobs. I arrived after Mirta finally went home -- and Sunny died that morning. So last night Mirta came by the office to see D2, and they made plans to meet for a meal at Tropical Chinese, to catch up. After her hair appointment, Mirta and I repaired to Trulucks, for a couple of drinks and appetizers. We caught up. We laughed. Mirta looks amazing -- she lost a lot of weight, and is biking to stay fit. She works as a bookkeeper for my OTHER former secretary, Norma, who has opened an aviation parts company with her husband Raul. And Mirta appreciates life -- each day. She volunteers for a family whose son has cerebral palsy -- they have to change diapers throughout the night. She's thankful for the health of her sons and grandkids. And though Mirta raised her boys alone, after her mentally ill husband checked himself out of this mortal coil, and she struggled -- she says she really didn't. She never went without food, she said, or a roof over their heads. She has come to learn what REAL struggles are, and thinks she is blessed to be free of them. We toasted our kids, and we toasted the exquisiteness of friendships. We laughed at the cast of characters who came into and out of our lives since 1998, when Mirta joined the firm. There were some REAL ones...strange, creepy guys, as well as wonderful examples of humanity. We saw them all. And if there's a better way to spend a cloudy Tuesday evening than laughing with an old friend, well, I don't know what it is.