Friends are Very Special People

 

A single rose can be my garden......a single friend, my world. Leo Buscaglia

 

The idea for this weeks blog came to me after my oldest daughter, Renee, told me that her very first best friends name was Denise.  I then asked my other girls if they could remember the name of their first best friend.  Rhonda's was Kristie Smithers, Brenda's was Kim Kinsey and Darla couldn't remember her name but it was "the girl in the apartment who moved out in the middle of the night".  I then asked myself the same question and my answer was Patsy Valdez.  I was surprised that we could remember who our first best friend was.  But Brenda told me it's because they are very special people.  I guess she is right or how else would we be able to remember them after so many years.  Unless you are one of the fortunate few who are still close with that person.

 

CAN YOU REMEMBER YOUR FIRST BEST FRIEND?

 

Most people meet this special person before or right after they start school.  I was in the third grade before I had met mine.  You're wondering why.  Well, until I moved to California I lived in the country, on a dirt road, and the farms or houses on Coventry Drive were very far apart.  The only kids I remember, lived down the road on a farm and were my sister's age.  Even though I tagged along with her once in a while, they were her friends not mine.  So friends have always been very important to me.

 

We go through life making all kinds of friends.  We have work friends, family friends, business associate friends, childhood friends and lifelong friends.  I have my scrap booking friends, work friends, IAOSKC friends, lunch buddies and neighborhood friends.  Many of them blend into other areas of my life because of our interests and personalities.  Then there's the friend that gives you a part-time job when you retire and have become restless and would like some extra income.  This job included working with two other casual friends who soon become best friends.  These friendships soon intertwined my personal and professional life into one.  It's a journey that I will never forget.

 

A best friend is kind and acts as a positive influence in your life.  They know your faults and who you are deep down and love you anyway.  They are there for you in good times and bad times.  Someone who will support your decisions, cheer you on, keep your secrets, celebrate your victories and cry with you when you are hurt.  If you have more than one person like this in your life you are very lucky.

 

Some people come into our lives for a short period and others stay for years.  A friendship doesn't have to last an entire lifetime in order for it to make an impact on you.  All friends are not best friends but think about what you have learned from them instead.

 

One of the hardest things for me is losing touch with someone that I really care about.  I don't mean the we have been busy and will catch up next week or next month losing touch.  I mean when you lose touch because you can't find this person anymore.  I have lost a childhood friend, that until about 10 years ago we kept in contact by letters, cards and yearly visits.  Suddenly my letters were returned, my attempts to reach her mother were in vain.  It was like she had dropped off the face of the earth.  I have tried every type of search I can think of and still can't find her or her family.  So, I go on hoping that someday I will run into her or at least find out what happened to her, her husband and children.

 

I lost touch with another dear friend for many years but this time it had a happy ending.  I found her again through my grandson and daughter.  At a Saturday baseball game, my daughter ran into Cheryl, whose grandson was playing ball on the opposite team we were playing.  A meeting was set up and it was like we had never been apart.  Now she and I stay in contact through Facebook on a regular basis.

 

Do me a favor and check your planner to see what day you scheduled meeting a new friend or finding a long lost one.  There isn't one, is there?  That's because you don't set a date to make a FRIEND or run into a FRIEND you haven't seen for several months or years.  They are special people and we don't take becoming friends with someone lightly.  Sometimes it takes a while to become close with a person and then other times you hit it off right away and it's like you've known this person all your life. 

 

People have drifted in and out of my life, just as they have yours, for a reason.  Sometimes it's for the good and other times it's not.  But each time we learn a little more about ourselves and how people affect us.  The people that stay forever are VSP's VERY SPECIAL PEOPLE.  I thank each and every one of my VSP's for sharing my life.

 

Many people will walk in and out of your life, but only true friends will leave footprints in your heart. Eleanor Roosevelt

 

 

Side note:  Good grief! I think I used the word friend or friends 30 times in this blog.  But it the best word I could think of in most places. 

 

 

Please check out the two book reviews under the tab above.  Happy Reading!!!!!