“Life Long Friend(ships)”

This one has been a work in progress for some time now. The concept has been there but the words and the direction wasn’t. Then there is that whole “timing” thing. The time is right.

As many of my postings, I want you the reader to think. Of course I use my own personal experiences to give you some imagery or something along those lines, but your thinking and experiences are what count.  

Let’s start off with the understanding that this is my perception of friends/friendships. There are different levels, some would say of friends/friendships. I tend to believe that may be true depending on your definition. You have them too and honestly, let me know yours. Multiple comments and definitions are what makes this blog so exciting. Feedback.

Journey with me for a few minutes.

I’m very lucky to say that I have been blessed with many people in my life that I can call friend. Some I haven’t seen in years. Our lives have changed and we may not be close as we once were. Some are really new…infant stage if you will. Then there are the Life Long ones. I have one that comes to mind just by stating this title. One that I’ve had since I was five years of age.  There are so many stories that I could share, but will only give you the captions to some of them. “The green machine” stories. “Freshman year” stories. “Laser tag” stories. One of my personal favorite, “Brown robe in college” stories. My list could go on and on. That one person, my life long friend, is in every one with me.

There have been only a few times when our friendship was strained, if you will. One argument that set us to not speaking for a few days. Ever have one of those? I know of times with others, we still haven’t spoke. Pride or stubbornness has been in the way to resolve those issues. But this friendship I’m speaking of, that didn’t happen. We worked it out. Of course we all have our own way of dealing with things, but we both realized that our friendship was bigger than the argument. More important.

I know I know, peoples’ lives change and sometimes you cannot control the friendship fading into the past. Unfortunately, that can happen. How about you and that friend don’t get along anymore? I’ve seen that happen too many times. Guess some would say that you wouldn’t want to call them a friend. So it’s over. Then we move on, right? Some do, some don’t. Some hold grudges and go out of their way to make the other person miserable, or try to. Who really pays for those actions? It’s kind of pointless and yes I’ve done it before.

Bet you’re wondering where I’m going with this? I’ll tell you.

Friends and friendships are actually more fragile than we appreciate. Sometime we use those words rather freely. I have. A friend is a person with feelings and emotions, just like you. I know you know this but sometimes we forget about that and absorb ourselves into our lives. Just assuming our friends don’t mind what we do and will be there for us, even if we hurt them. They’re our friends, aren’t they supposed to be there, no matter what?

Friends need to be there for us, yes and you for them. Think about that for a second. Seriously…have you had a friend/friendship that was uneasy or on the brink? I know I’ve been there. Stubbornness on my part and they decided to walk away from me. It wasn’t worth it for them. After some serious reflection on my actions, I don’t blame them. They gave anything and everything to me when I needed it. I took it for granted and they didn’t want that anymore.

So I’m asking you to seriously think about your friends…all of them. List them if you want to. I do listings to help me see it in black and white. Makes things clearer for me to see. Think about the wonderful things they given you over the years. Think about what you’ve done for them. I’m not saying this with the frame of mind that everything is in trouble…not at all. I’m sure there are many wonderful stories out there and I wish you would share one with me.

My point to this today…do not take your friends for granted. We all have friends and we are friends with others. Be there for each other. Support each other. Pick each other up when we fall, dust them off if necessary. They would do it for you. Oh, tell them what they need to hear…not just what they want to hear. You would expect them to be honest with you.

So to end, think about your friends. Talk to them. Appreciate them. This journey of Laughter Life and Food is about many things, this being one. If you have a friend you haven’t spoke to lately, do yourself a favor. Call, text, write them. Reach out to them. Do not let Pride end something that I’ve done before. Don’t miss out on your life long friend(ships).