Friends
by Lance D. Smith
ldswordsmith@comcast.net
When I was younger, friends seemed to be everywhere. We spent so much time together during school hours or playing sports. Our free time allowed us to spend countless hours together.
But it has been said the older you get the quantity of your friendships decrease, but the quality increase. I believed that.
My wife is my best friend. She knows me better than I know myself. We have two children and a majority of my time is spent with my family. My circle of friends has changed, reduced. I think that is a natural progression.
Saturday night I was not out on the town partying it up. Around eight thirty I was blow drying my daughter's hair after she finished her bath. I have become an expert brushing through tangles without it hurting. Then, I enjoyed some time with my son talking over soccer skills and strategies. It was time was well spent.
There are a handful of people, beyond my family, that I can call "close" or "true" friends. But I don’t get to see them very often or frequent. We all have children. The most time we get to spend together is on the sidelines of whatever sport our little ones are participating. We don’t get to talk regularly on the phone. But every once in a while, we get together, kids and all, and have dinner or just hang out. The children tend to want to run wild at these get-togethers but we endure it for a few hours and make new memories or re-visit old ones.
With these few but true friends, we can call on each other in a time of need. We will drop whatever we are doing and show up in each other’s life. We may be between one sport and school function to another, leaving or going to work, but we will show up for each other. We don’t have the leisure time we use to, but we have a sincere place in our hearts reserved for one another.
If you ever get down and feel lonely because you don’t have a room full of friends, don’t sweat it. If you have one, possibly two true friends, you are truly blessed. You know the friends I am talking about, those people who accept you in spite of your shortcomings and tell you truth, even when you don’t really want to hear it. Or better yet, those who are genuinely happy for you when something good comes your way.
At the speed life these days, time is not available to nurture our relationships. But relationships as you get older will endure because of their quality.
I do my best to call and check on my friends from time to time. I wish we could spend more time together, but we can't and we know it is nothing personal.
I guess the key to friendship is to be the type of friend you want to have.
"Strangers are
exciting, their mystery never ends, but there's nothing like seeing your history
in the faces of your friends." Ani DiFranco
Enjoy Life,
Lance