A couple months ago, as I was putting my groceries in my car, a person in the car right next to me leaned over and through the passenger side window asked if I was ____________ and seeing that I was trying to attach a name to her face, she mentioned her first name. She was one of my ex-sisters-in-law, and sitting next to her was her daughter, who by then was 11. Because my ex-wife was estranged from most of the immediate world, especially her family, I had never seen my niece, kind of a miracle child, because she was their first and only child conceived late in life. We talked awhile and I waited for my ex-brother-in-law to come out of the supermarket. He was doing the shopping, and I wanted to say hello to him. My ex-sister-in-law hadn't seen my ex-wife in over 15 years she said. But she told me about the children of another ex-sister-in-law, another niece and nephews, and how well they were doing. It warmed my heart to hear good new, especially where I had other expectations.

There was a warmth I felt in connecting, even briefly with inherited family, and a sadness as well. It did not dredge up a lot of thoughts about my ex-wife, as I expected it might. Nonetheless, this sister-in-law was the first person in my former extended family that I had seen in a little over 7 years, even though several of them live in this part of the city.

I don't know why I've waited a few months to write about this. There have been a few dreams with my ex-wife in the last few weeks. Not bad dreams at all. Actually, good dreams. I guess I do miss her, especially around the holidays. I know it sounds trite, but I guess time marches on, but memories persist.