FRIENDSHIP FRIDAY

“Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom .”    Marcel Proust

I started my day out by enjoying breakfast with a dear friend who was visiting from Ohio. We each had a version of French Toast that was to die for. We reminisced about the past and shared stories about our families.  It was great to catch up. When it was time to leave, I asked her to keep in touch. I am hoping to continue this breakfast treat on her return trip next year.

This afternoon, I had lunch with two more friends. These two are very special to me. They have faith in my writing and continue to guide and encourage me with positive words, along with ideas and suggestions on how to broaden my audience. They get me! These two angels understand my goals and what is essential to my heart.

To Laurel and Carol… Thank you for helping me live my dream of helping others through my words and stories.

” Keep away from those who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you believe that you too can become great.”  Mark Twain

 Then there is Maria, who has been a dear friend for well over thirty years. She was there when my parents, husband, great-grandson, and sister passed.  This sweet dear friend knows me better than most people. I value her honesty, loyalty, praise, and genuine, caring ways.  She is a true definition of a friend who is always there.

” A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked.”  Bernard Meltzer

When I was teaching, I spent several days at the beginning of the school year, teaching my students about friendship. I read them stories, we wrote stories, and we drew pictures.  It was important to me to teach them the importance of being a friend. I explained to them and reinforced the lesson: if you want to have a friend, you must first be a friend. It always touched my heart to see them trying to be the best friend they could be. Being children, sometimes they would have little setbacks, but with encouragement and reminders, they would try again.

” The only way to have a friend is to be one.”

   Ralph Waldo Emerson

I am grateful for my friends that have blessed my life by their conversations, laughter, tears, concern, advice, constructive criticism, and genuine love.  I believe that God, in his Wisdom, places friends on our path. Some will come into our lives for a reason. Maybe they will be the teacher, and we will become a student or, vice versa.  Some will stay a season to help us through a difficult time, or once again vice versa. Then there are the folks that stay a lifetime. They are the gems in our treasure chest of life.

Regardless of how long they stay, cherish the time. Each one is a blessing!

” If ever there is tomorrow when we’re not together… there is something you must always remember. You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. But the most important thing is, even if we’re apart… I’ll always be with you.

Winnie the Pooh