Thoughts on Friendship, Part I

Proverbs 18:24 (New Living Translation)

“There are ‘friends’ who destroy each other, but a real friend sticks closer than a brother.

I am blessed with the best friends. Yesterday, October 7th, 2006, I spent the whole day with my friend “Tea”, catching up, since we have not actually seen each other in over a year. This is the reality of modern life, that it is with email, i.m. and the phone that most of our friendships are conducted. This is o.k. with me, o.k. that is, until we get together, then I miss her so much more after I see her. Suddenly I get greedy.

Yesterday, we exchanged Christmas 2005 and birthday ‘05 (hers) and ‘06 (mine) gifts. Pathetic, huh? Well, pathetics aside, it was fun. It always is.

She gave me a vintage photo bookmark (supposedly “us” in a [not so] few years!) which I scanned to show the entire world and then I promptly put in my Bible in Proverbs 18. Apparently, I was with her when she bought this bookmark but I was talking so much I did not notice this charmer in among her purchases. (BTW- It has pansy gift-wrap on the back – too, too cute!)

We are planning to celebrate her ‘06 birthday, which is in December & this coming Christmas, THIS Christmas – novel thought. And I am so excited because that is only about 80 days away! Life is so good.

Another one of my friends has been spending so much time helping me lately that if I ever get to the place that I don’t need the help, I will not tell a soul because I love having my friend come over to my house and I love going over to my friend’s home. I love the interaction, the breakfasts, brunches, lunches, dinners, the research, the road trips, the goofy adventures and all the silly chatter and subsequent laughter. I feel so much better, just knowing I am not going to be doing something alone. That kind of friendship is priceless.

These are just two of my dozens of beloved friends. All of whom are so much better at friendship than I am. I am awed & humbled to have them for friends & I have learned “how” to be a better friend from each one of them. I try to remember all their birthdays, emphasis on try, and am amazed that they remember mine when I cannot even remember mine.

One of my friends actually gave me the shirt off her back once! No kidding. Thank goodness, she had another shirt on underneath, because her outfit was layered! We were on our way to an herb gardening class…so she definitely needed clothing! The shirt was plaid. For those that know me, that explains everything. My friend is so generous I am sure I am not the only person to get the shirt off her back, really or figuratively.

Since I am an only child, I thank God that “real friends stick closer than brothers”.