The Gift of Friends
Those of you who know me well know I love meeting and making new friends, but I sure do love my old friends. New friends have a wonderful future together. They can do things that are new to each of their lives even though each one may have experienced them many times before their relationship began. This can create a freshness into each other's lives and bring a feeling of expectation to each new day. Just to hear their voice or see their face sparks a feeling of excitement and wonderment of what their next venture might be. We can do things with new friends we would never think of doing with old friends. I suppose the reason for this is, we are just sorta rooted and grounded in our old friendships, or, perhaps just set in our old ways and habits. And, that is not a bad thing.
Old friends; oh how wonderful. Old friends have a past together. Times of happiness, sadness, or times of going through each others trials together or raising their families together . Times of spontaneous laughter or just quiet times sitting together over a cup of coffee or tea. Knowing each other so well you finish each others sentences. Sometimes being separated by miles or by life situations . But, upon the next meeting, whether it has been years or days, pick up exactly where you were as though no time or distance has ever happened. Speaking of finishing each others sentences, this happened recently with one of my childhood friends, Betty Berthelot. We were sitting in one of our wonderful little downtown cafes and having the best of times. As we were getting ready to leave, we were talking to another customer, and I suppose we both were talking, for Betty laughingly said to the other person,
"Have you noticed, it takes two to finish this conversation?" A good example of knowing each other so well you can finish the other's sentence.
And comfort. Umm, the comfort of an old friendship. We all know the comfort of an old pair of shoes or that old faded worn out shirt or blouse. The newness slowly evolved into comfort. We can't wait to get into them. They feel so right. This is the way it is with old friendships.
New friendships, old friendships. They both are so important in our lives. New friendships eventually evolve into the old comfortable friendships, where perhaps in the beginning there may have been some pretense on each others part before we reached the comfortable stage.
I believe we should have friends of all ages. Older people need the young in their lives and younger people need the elders in their lives. My mom once told me that she would have to pay someone to attend her funeral. What she was talking about was that at her age all her friends had either passed on or were in a nursing home. This is true for any of us who live to be old. My response was, "Mom, that is why I try to make as many young friends as I can." If we keep making friends younger than we are, we will always have someone in our lives.
Friends are important enough in our lives that the word of God talks about friendship; from choosing our friends to the way we treat our friends and how to have friends. Jesus said in John 15:13, "Greater love has no man that someone lay down his life for his friends." In the next verse He went on to call us his friends.
Friendships so often happen by accident, but they have to be cultivated and cared for.
In Proverbs 18:24, the Word also tells us how to have friends. "A man that hath friends must show himself friendly."
This was not initially the way my mind was headed for this columns, so cherish and take care of those old friendships and build new ones that will grow.
My heroes and heroines this column are my dear friends, whether by blood or by acquisition. Don't forget, you never know when you may show up as my hero or heroine.
See ya next time somewhere in a "Korner".
Kdover28@gmail.com. - 573-820-2404 for calling or texting - www.dailystatesman.com
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