Joy of Friendship

When we meet someone we do a little dance to see how well they fit. This is not a gay thing.. it is a people thing. Some folks look for friends who mirror themselves… same style of clothing, same way of talking, same family history. They feel like the person would be themselves…. And the things they like about themselves, they like about this potential friend.

Others of us look for friends that bring a diversity to the relationship, different race, different upbringing, different taste in decorating and clothing, different education. There is a richness from melding the experiences together… where each in itself is rather mundane… but together the tapestry woven by people who come together is rich and a feast for the eyes.

Friends sometime know us better than we know ourselves… No matter how we come together and no matter what attracts us to each other… they know us. Sometimes they are not “old” friends. New friends often know us well immediately. We feel a sense of having been friends forever. When we meet a “new friend” we have a sense of urgency and a recognition of the rarity of a new friend. The older we get we realize that friends do not come along just every day.

The days we struggle, our friends know. Sometimes we need a diversion, sometimes we need someone to commiserate with us… sometimes we need an alteration in our own path. Those friends are there and they know instinctively what it is we truly need. Being with our friend divides our burden and it becomes manageable again.

The days we are celebrating life…. Oh we get to celebrate with our friends. We would never ever dream of celebrating alone. Being with a friend magnifies our happiness.

This weekend we celebrated the birthdays of a couple of wonderful friends. I used to agonize over the perfect gift and lament that my pocket book was not as deep as the esteem I held for them. Now I know the stuff measures nothing. My idea of a celebration is always a celebratory experience, a memory. Memories last longer, provide joy for the moment and warm hearts long after. So we celebrated, we joked, we encouraged, we listened, we giggled, we laughed, we clapped and relished joy. I measure my wealth by the wonderful friends in my life. You could count me very wealthy. DKU