This is a beautiful analogy of life, Pene. It's true that people hop on and off our life train. Sometimes we wonder why. Often it is obvious. Occasionally it is pure relief, for some relationships cause more strain than we can bear.

But when it is family, that hurts.

I talk of the reformation of family, you know, when our children marry and have their children, things do change. Yet somehow, many people manage to hold together the family bonds that can be, at times, tenuously held together. Others simply move on, as with my own family - one large, seemingly happy family, scattered like the wind to be honest, but for whatever reason, fail to contact.

A friend who has suffered a similar fate always says: Thank goodness for my real family, meaning friends.