Truly Great Friends are Hard to Find, Difficult to Leave, and Impossible to Forget

I'm back at Grandma's with my golfers this morning, and so happy to be here. In fact, I am so happy that I have moved from the sitting room to the lovely deck where I can watch the maintenance guys and the sprinklers. It is definitely a distraction, but a lovely one.

I had lunch with a friend on Friday. Her two boys are friends with my son, so we all ate at the little Mexican joint...boys at a table and moms at another. I had written an article on her for the local paper and it was due to be in the paper on Saturday. We started out discussing the article...which covered all of her incredibly self-less work in the community over the last few years...but we covered a lot more ground. This friend has been through more in the last 6 months that many people go through in 5 years. Her father just passed away, her mom is traumatized, her sister is dying, her brother was in an accident, she gave up a job she loved...and her family is moving to another state in 2 weeks. So what is her answer to all of this? She was taking her boys on a mission trip to another country to lead Bible school for a week. I am constantly humbled by this woman. She approaches everything with a kind smile and an open heart. She makes me want to be a better person, and I am so fortunate to call her a friend.

Part of our conversation focused on a similar personality trait we both have. She was talking about facebook and the fact that she didn't have a lot of "friends" on her page. She talked about quality, and not quantity of friendship. I had to laugh at this because I am always being teased about the small number of "friends" on my page.I have maybe 20...mostly family...a few close friends...and a few trusted acquaintances....I am always stunned that people have 200 -300. And look, I think that is great. Big Sister has hundreds...and she totally enjoys keeping up with everyone. The other day, she said she was going to "edit" her list. She went from 500 to 450....

Friendship is a blessing...and you realize it more and more as the years go by. I have always had just a few really good friends, but the ones I have I would trust with my life. I count myself truly fortunate that I have made some really good ones in the last few years. I didn't expect that. It seems that as you get married, have kids and get older...your time is limited and it is hard to form real bonds...especially if you are reserved or shy. But I have been especially lucky in that area.

So just a shout out to a few friends this morning:

1) To the friend on the mission trip...be safe

2) To the friend whose son broke her arm in our baseball tournament this weekend: My heart goes out to you and please let us help if we can...

3) To the friend at the beach who has abandonned me at our girls' softball practice this week (just kidding)....have fun

4) To my other friend at the beach (everyone is at the beach!)....we miss you at the ball park!

5) To my friend in Paris who has been through too much...I love you

6) To my friend who just got back from vacation...let's do lunch...

So until tomorrow, when I will still be enjoying the view of the golfers...and thankful for friends near and far...