My friends aren't very supportive, but to be fair, I have not asked for their support. I guess I assume that they know I'm struggling, which is wrong, but dang it, do I really have to run around telling people "I'm a basket case, help me, my son died and I don't know what to do, where to go, who to talk to, where I can find some kind of comfort, do you even care?"?
One of my friends, I never received even a sympathy card. They came to the house for about 15 minutes the day he died. They came to the funeral. That's pretty much the extent of it. We have done different things this past year to honor Stephen, this friend has not supported any of it. We bought t-shirts, she didn't. It's ok not to buy a t-shirt, but she could have been at the walk. That was free. Sometimes just "showing up" is all that is needed.
Over the past year I have made new friends in ways I had not expected. These friends do not replace my "old friends", but they are special too. One of them in particular, has become very special. She has lifted me up in more ways than she could ever even begin to know.
On Stephen's birthday, Kristin & Michael gave me a giant frog. He is handmade, carved from a log. He's holding what I thought was a tablet, but it's a lily pad, on which is engraved "In Memory of Stephen Opfer". That is so sweet of them. And so very, very unexpected!
