Reflections And Sunbeams

It was 70 degrees today, impossible to tell the season just by looking. I took a long ride with my window rolled way down and the radio turned way up. My thoughts lingered on the familiar places I passed, tracking the changes in my surroundings and my differences since each played a part in my life.
Some places that I lived in long ago have been torn down, one place where I worked is just an empty shell, but today in my memory they lived. As I remembered them I recalled the girl who cowered in spots that no longer exist and knew with certainty that she is nonexistent now too.
As I drove toward home the skies grew cloudy. I was beginning to mourn the loss of light when a silver slit appeared and a bright sunbeam reached for the ground just ahead. I laughed loud at its appearance, for it brought back a memory of a dark day, two years ago, when my crazy friend Jeanette kidnapped me so we could search for sunbeams. We found several that day, but the first one seen was on the same bridge. The joy of a new sunbeam was heightened by the echo of an old one. Now that I have no need to chase sunbeams to brighten my day I was gifted with one. The drive home was heaven.
To all my crazy friends, both old and new, I wish you a very safe and Happy New Year. I spent the day simply, on gentle reflections of a time that is finally far enough away to be pain free. I will spend the evening simply too, tending to future stepping. The last day of the year seemed like a perfect time to put pieces of the past to rest and begin working on what is waiting for me just ahead.