Friendship - A Gift Wrapped in Love
I was looking at a little booklet in a specialty store in Monterey - and it says something like "I think I'll keep you as a friend. You know too much."
It's cute and funny and there is a ring of truth in it - and it runs deeper than how it sounds. We keep our friends because we care for them. We let them into our lives because we hope that they would love us, because of who we are, and inspite of what we are. They know too much because we let them in; with real friends, we let our guards down. We let them see us - the good, the bad, and the ugly.
In an emotional email I sent to a group of friends (my other "family") a few weeks ago, I wrote:
"We have so many things to celebrate and to be thankful for - TOGETHER.
One of which, and I think the most important, is the love we have for each other, that longing we have in our hearts when we have not seen each other for a long time. Friendship is a wonderful gift, because it is wrapped in love.
We had birthdays (and more are coming), successful surgeries to make the bodies better, we had rites of passage like retirement and some other reasons to celebrate together - and so..."
We scheduled to get together this Saturday in Riverside and bask in the warmth of each other's affection. Sure, we will eat for the most part, and we may play mahjong while others play scrabble; we will sing songs while I play Charlie's guitar; we will catch up with each other's activities, marvel at how fast the children are growing up (and ourselves growing old) and just be there for each other, physically and emotionally to refill our cups until they run over, so that we will have enough to sustain us, until the next gathering.
Friends are indeed wonderful gifts - only if we allow friendships to happen. So, yes, we are responsible, too. As in any relationship, it is a two way street, a give and take - oh, and each take turns in giving and taking...
I tell my friends I love them because I do. I have many groups of friends from different stages of my life and I have kept them all. I have this bad habit of falling in love with people who God puts into my life. And I thank God for them - even if some are harder to love than others - because each of them brings a special challenge, and a special joy.
So, if you are up to it, tell your friends how much they mean to you. I just did.
It's cute and funny and there is a ring of truth in it - and it runs deeper than how it sounds. We keep our friends because we care for them. We let them into our lives because we hope that they would love us, because of who we are, and inspite of what we are. They know too much because we let them in; with real friends, we let our guards down. We let them see us - the good, the bad, and the ugly.
In an emotional email I sent to a group of friends (my other "family") a few weeks ago, I wrote:
"We have so many things to celebrate and to be thankful for - TOGETHER.
One of which, and I think the most important, is the love we have for each other, that longing we have in our hearts when we have not seen each other for a long time. Friendship is a wonderful gift, because it is wrapped in love.
We had birthdays (and more are coming), successful surgeries to make the bodies better, we had rites of passage like retirement and some other reasons to celebrate together - and so..."
We scheduled to get together this Saturday in Riverside and bask in the warmth of each other's affection. Sure, we will eat for the most part, and we may play mahjong while others play scrabble; we will sing songs while I play Charlie's guitar; we will catch up with each other's activities, marvel at how fast the children are growing up (and ourselves growing old) and just be there for each other, physically and emotionally to refill our cups until they run over, so that we will have enough to sustain us, until the next gathering.
Friends are indeed wonderful gifts - only if we allow friendships to happen. So, yes, we are responsible, too. As in any relationship, it is a two way street, a give and take - oh, and each take turns in giving and taking...
I tell my friends I love them because I do. I have many groups of friends from different stages of my life and I have kept them all. I have this bad habit of falling in love with people who God puts into my life. And I thank God for them - even if some are harder to love than others - because each of them brings a special challenge, and a special joy.
So, if you are up to it, tell your friends how much they mean to you. I just did.
posted by PHLOR TORREJOS at 8:39 PM
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