The Beauty of Friendship I

friend n. 1. a person attached to another by feelings of affection or personal regard 2. a person whom one knows, likes, and trusts

I've been mulling around the idea of doing a series of posts about friendship and the beauty it has brought to my life. So today seemed like a good day to get started. (My apologies up front for my literary goof ups as I write...I change tense mid-sentence often and who knows what else!--does that really matter in the blog-o-sphere anyway?)

First, I looked up "friendship" in my dictionary...yes, the dusty thick book that spends years untouched thanks to dictionary.com & spell check...ya know I was a Kansas Honor Scholar so I really have a very nice one. But guess what? "Friendship" is not in my dictionary. Not on its own, not as a form of the word "friend", nothing, notta, zilch. Between Friedmanite and frier all that can be found is "friend" and "friendly". Go figure.

I like to think of myself as a living legacy of the lives of my friends. Legacy...let's see if it's in there...oh good!

legacy n. something handed down from an ancestor or predecessor or from the past

Well, that's close enough (if you're a walking vocab machine let me know a better word). A legacy of the lives of my friends. Bits and pieces of so many people are seeped into my being that it continually makes me grateful for each person, each memory, each glimpse of "them" that is a part of me.



Off and on over the years I have experienced feelings of guilt, sadness (even mourning), pride, joy, empathy, exasperation, and helplessness with regard to friends. Lately, however, my heart as turned mainly to a feeling of blessedness and thankfulness for ALL my friends (old, current, new). I am finally learning that even through separations of time, distance or even just of intimacy, the friends in my life have been beautifully orchestrated...the perfect timing, the right intensity...for just the right season in my own life (and hopefully I for theirs).

So, first, my praises to God for blessing me with a life RICH with friends...from my siblings to fellow childhood adventurers to the women (and men) who continue to speak life and truth to my soul...I am grateful for every moment. to be continued...