I’ve been thinking a lot about friendship lately.
I reconnected over the weekend with a friend I thought I’d lost. And then I found out I had lost a friend I was looking forward to having. And with the dearth of posts memorializing Laura, one thing stuck out to me – a quote on Mel’s site:
“My friend, if I could give you one thing, I would wish for you the ability to see yourself as others see you. Then you would realize what a truly special person you are.†– Anonymous
And I wanted to take a moment to reflect on friendship in my own life.
My friends constantly amaze me with the relationships we share. I’ll be the first to admit that between the ages of 16 and 23 I was that girl who figured spending all her time with her boyfriend, and sharing his friends, was enough. I had few friends of my own, and pretty much sucked at building any sort of meaningful interpersonal relationships based solely on my own merits.
This meant I would cycle through circles of friends whenever I would change boyfriends. It’s what made breakups so unbearable, and why I was never single.
However, toward the end of my relationship with my last boyfriend, something changed. I had been working with a group of incredible people who didn’t know my boyfriend – they just knew me, and loved me for who I was. And although life’s carried us in a few different directions, we’re all still incredibly close.
In the couple years since then I’ve met more fabulous people and built up friendships, the likes of which I haven’t enjoyed since I was 5 or 6. Back in the days when you didn’t need a reason to knock on your neighbour’s door and ask if he or she wanted to go out and play. You just did. Because you were friends.
And so, to all my friends – I’d name you, but fear forgetting anyone – Thank you.
I’m not always good at saying it, but you’ve all had such a lovely and profound impact on my life, and I want all of you to know exactly how special I think you are.
Aw. Love. I would like to echo all of that right back to you. You, my dear, rock.
Very nice thoughts..
I had some similar ones the other weekend. I got together with one of my closest friends. We’ve known each other for 8 years, since 1st year undergrad. He’s married and a kid on the way; I’m nowhere near married…
Anyways, his wife was out of town and I went over and we cooked a meal together and hung out at his home.
It was just like nothing had changed since undergrad, except instead of cooking KD in the dorm kitchen, we were making squash soup and pesto sauce from scratch in a beautifully decorated home. Other than that, it was just buddies spending time together.
What I’m saying, I guess, is that none of that stuff really matters. Wherever we go in our life it’s wonderful to always have that base and support of good friends.
Thank you for your friendship, Jen. It means the world to me. I love you.