Where we live, we have no kinfolk within 700 miles of us in any direction. We do however have an extensive Church family. They are not blood, but they are definitely family nonetheless. We spend lots of time together at one anothers homes, Christmas, Thanksgiving and birthdays and other wonderful occasions. I have always felt like I belonged to this wonderful family from the time I first stepped into this church.

I suggest that anyone that finds themselves with no kinfolk to join the family that is the body of Christ.

PVP

My Mom lost her last brother this morning. She's now the only family memeber left. I'm sure glad we went and saw him on Thursday at the nursing home.
Leslie

Yes, some church families are just like that. :) I know ours is!

One of my biggest fears is being without family. Luckily, we have so much, there's not much chance of that. I'm especially happy that my mom is getting sober- it just adds to our relationship one thousand fold! I want her nearer now. :)

One of our friends is growing her family large, by having lots of babies (they want 4 kids total and they're on #3). They both love children, but she said one of the biggest reasons to having lots of kids was because she didn't want to be without family.

Blessings,
Haley

In many cases, friends are alot closer than family. I have some family 3000 miles away, but not that important to me.

I see it alot at work, really sad. People with no family and money don't get the best of care when they can't take care of themselves anymore. Really breaks your heart.

I have a friend at work whose parents, only brother, and husband all died within a short time. She has 2 children, so she's not "alone", but has no one older or in her same age group.

I know some singles around here and have been thinking of suggesting to some of us that we get together for a meal on occasion.

o j

OJ I'll bet they'd enjoy getting together for an evening out. There's about 12 of us gals in my development/association who go out once a month. There's 27 units here, so that's about 1/2 that are widows. One that's never married. She's was a school teacher.
Leslie

The worst thing I could think of would be to outlive my kids.

That said I do joke about being the last one standing amongst my old friends and peers. I think that is why I am working much harder today to make new friends of all ages and stay in touch with the old. I'm a loner by nature but I know there is a big difference between being alone and lonely. I want to insure I have that choice when I grow old.

I've suggested to a number of people over the years that we should keep busy and active ... and should keep making new friends.

Some have wondered what they need to do that for - they have a number of friends as it is, tried and true ones that they've developed over the years.

And I've suggested that in many cases a number of them are work-related and when we retire, our interests may well change. Also, as many retire, they may, for various reasons, move to distant locations, so while that friendship may continue, it isn't as active as earlier. Some become less able to relate, some become disabled, a number die, so the number of active, vibrant friendships tends to shrink.

The problem does disappear, eventually ...

... when we're the one to cash in our chips.

In the meantime, it's valuable to have a number of active, dynamic friendships ... keeps one busy and vital, longer. It seems to me that if we lack such ... it may well actually be shorter ... but just seem a lot longer.

ole joyful