And Time Marches On With and Without

I suppose we all reach a time in our lives when acquaintances and family and old friends leave this trail and "pass on" as most people put it. "She passed" or "he has passed". I heard one person report that "he was transitioning well". I want to transition well. I like the sound of transitioning but to where? It sounds as if that person is making a position change as in easing into a new job or into a new home.

Growing up in a very small town and in the years this was done, there were people that were considered prosperous who would by today's standards be considered lower middle class. Money was tight for most people and the few families that worked in the one factory located riverside in Ravenswood had it better then most. Construction workers had seasonal jobs and the winters could be tough. Families were large then. It wasn't uncommon for seven to 12 children in one family. Usually the larger families lived on the farms. I don't remember any large families that were "townies".
Vacations were not something I ever heard my friends discuss. Trips were made to see Aunts and Uncles, grandparents and cousins. Weekends were family affairs not a beach experience or more exotic travel. The families that remain in that small town travel much more then we did in the '50's and 60's. 

I'm writing this to pay homage to "one of our own" that just "passed". She was a classmate; one that was well known and liked. She wasn't a person that I spent a lot of time with but as is common in small towns, I knew her whole family. Her parents and her siblings. I was shocked to hear of her passing and saddened to know she had left us so early. She was a part of my past as were all my classmates.
RIP Janice. You are on my mind.