For a week now...

For a week now I have been thinking about writing about friendship. It was a week ago last Friday that I went away for the weekend with a fairly new group of friends. We had a wonderful time and I came back wondering how it was that I was blessed to be able to add new friends to my life in my forties.
But something else got me thinking....what do I have to give to these new friends? What am I giving to the friends of my thirties, the friends of my twenties, the family members that are more to me than my sisters or aunt, uncle or cousin? What do I give? Do I even know how to be a good friend? How is that defined these days?

Today I got a facebook message from a college roommate. It made me smile and think of her and the fun we had. Are our lives totally different now? Would we have anything in common except for memories? I don't know. I do know that I think of her every new years eve and hope she is doing well. She was a wonderful friend.

I received an email from my cousin who has shared kind words and prayers and faithfully a birthday wish, anniversary blessings, and "just because" notes for years and years even though I am TERRIBLE at sending these wishes to those I cherish and call "my friend".

This weekend I got to spend some time with a friend I met early in my professional career. She was with me through my dating life with Bill, with me the day we got married. I will cherish the note her husband left on our car window the night before we we had our first baby. They had had their first baby a year before and he shared some wise and wonderful words that night as we stepped into this next stage of life. We each have two kids now that are very close in age, but our lives are busy and mostly we see each other just in passing. Does she know how much her friendship means? What can I do so she knows this?

To you my friend, from high school, college, my twenties, thirties and forties...tonight I will use my blog to reach you.

My friend, if you are out there reading this entry, I hope you know how much your friendship means to me. Thank you for your kindness. Thank you for your prayers. Thank you for reaching out with your words and your hugs. I have a lot to give to our friendship. I can be a great listener, although my hands are weak, my heart is strong...please lean on me. If you need a last minute childcare provider, someone to pick up your child after school because your appointment is running late, someone to share a bottle of wine with because you need to sit with a friend. Someone to walk with (I'm good for about 20 minutes if you are doing all the talking) I am here for you...my friend.
Good night.