Friends for Life

There is nothing like a friendship that stands the test of time. Often I am pleasantly surprised at the friends I have kept from those dark, drippy days of cult. We met in far-off places; we met in close-to-home places. Many of my dearest friends have been with me for years. We may not have seen each other often during all those years, but the minute we meet up again, it’s like we never left off. These are friends forged through much turmoil, sometimes pain, mostly joy.

It’s funny the joy I remember from the years that were the darkest. The silly laughter, the jokes, the quotes from movies, the long drives to the coast for retreat or to attend weddings in another state. The get-together of girlfriends after church service, all cramming into a station wagon to buy ice cream and donuts. The lazy summer days sitting by the river, watching the current flow by.

Friendships of mine have been forged in fire. Sometimes the drama was hot, hot, hot; sometimes I took it all for granted. As an introvert, I’m blessed with many friends–from all over the world, nearby, in other states, only through Facebook or this blog. That’s nothing to scoff at.

Perhaps one of the very good reasons for all the bad is that from it came something very good: friends for life. Friends that as soon as you see them again after years, you pick up right where you left off, there’s nothing lost, only time.

And the best part is, often the friends have been through their own trials and their own sorrows, but standing side by side once again, the both of you realize, in spirit, in friendship, you were together the entire time.

That’s what this week has been like for me. Solidarity and many indications that really we do not walk alone. We walk with God and we walk together.

As a friend and I often remark to each other, “I see you there, through the trees. I see you!”

Tagged as: brilliant, Good Things, memoir