“A
friend is one that knows you as you are, understands where you have been,
accepts what you have become, and still, gently allows you to grow.” ― William
Shakespeare
Today,
I am really thankful for the many and awesome friends in my life, that means
you. Yes, YOU! I am thankful for you. Good friends are hard to come by, and so
when you find that person that allows you to be you and loves you for it, hold
on to them, for in them, you have found a true friend.
Friendship
hasn’t always come easy for me, mostly because up until a few years back, I
found it hard to trust people. Three incidents led to this. When I was young,
my very close friends and I got separated; our family had to move away and with
no form of communication, it became extremely difficult to stay in touch. I did
not deal with this well. It became hard for me to get close with people as I felt
we would get separated and be hurt all over again. There is a happy ending to
this story however; after 13+ years without seeing each other, we got reunited!
The
second incident involves a personal loss I experienced when I was 13 years old.
I had a cousin with whom I grew very close; we were almost inseparable. We could
share anything and everything, she was my best friend. When she died in tragic
circumstances (her soul R.I.P.), I was devastated. I felt betrayed; why would
the one person I was this close to leave me? I swore never again…
To
add to all this, the betrayal at the hands of someone close, a friend…it all
seemed too much at the time and further reinforced my resolve to never again
let anyone in.
Over
the years, through sharing with my family, asking God to help break down the
walls I had so painstakingly built around my heart, I have steadily come to
trust again. In doing so, I have found true friendship in some of the most
unlikely of places, and for that, I am thankful. Henri J.M. Nouwen sums it up
really well when he says: “When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our
lives mean the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of
giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and
touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with
us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of
grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing
and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is a friend who cares.” The Road to Daybreak: A Spiritual
Journey
And
it has definitely been very true in my life that “Friendship is the hardest
thing in the world to explain. It's not something you learn in school. But if
you haven't learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven't learned
anything.” ― Muhammad Ali. I have and I am learning the true value and meaning of friendship, something
that should not be given, or taken for granted.
So,
today, I am thankful for the many people in my life I am blessed to call
friend. You know who you are…
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