Last night Lyle and I watched the last of our recorded, but
syrupy Christmas movies. The plot as usual was fairly predictable and although
the focus was on romantic love, in all the movies we watched there was also a
general theme of friendship. I am reminded of a verse a school friend wrote in
my autograph book – yes, I am old enough to remember the days when autograph
books were the in thing, but I guess that could be the topic for another post.
The verse went like this:
Old friends are like diamonds,
Treasured and rare.
New friends are like autumn leaves
Found everywhere.
I treasure my
friends. They are indeed gems in my life. I was interested this year to find
that same thought expressed in several of the Christmas letters I received. In
one note, Beth-Anne wrote how much she enjoyed the weekly visits of her friend,
Mary Jean. On Friday afternoons, Mary Jean would bring her crocheting and
together the two women would sit, knit, crochet and chat for an hour or two.
They have enjoyed this companionable afternoon for many years now.
There are many ways to express friendship. Our friend Tom
used to have a weekly coffee date with his buddy, Glen. When Glen was diagnosed
with an inoperable brain tumor, Tom continued the weekly visits only then he
sat beside Glen’s hospital bed, sometimes chatting and at other times simply
being there and perhaps reading his book or the local newspaper. Tom said that
he had always set aside the weekly time slot to be with his friend so he just
decided to continue the friendship but in a different location.
Then there was this email message from Sue. She wrote:
I am blessed with a trusted friend who lives only a walk
away from our house. She is my go to for recording from the TV, iPad lessons,
extra baking for my visitors, shopping sprees, and above all, a listening board
for my sad days (which are few). It is hard to receive so much but I believe
that by receiving gratefully a person also gives back. A vote of thanks to
those wonderful people. May everyone have a trusted friend in their lives.
I was touched by Sue’s words, but they also reminded me that
to have a friend, one must also be a friend. It is perhaps a little more
difficult to think of ways to give back when faced with some of the challenges
of vision impairment. For instance, I can’t offer to drive anyone anywhere or
to take a friend shopping. However, I do have a phone which I can use to send
birthday wishes or get well messages or just have a friendly chat. Perhaps I
just need to indulge in some creativity when
it comes to my part of the friendship. I also agree with Sue in that being a
gracious recipient of offers of friendship is a gift in itself. For those of us
who have lived a previously independent life, this is sometimes the hardest
lesson of all.
In this coming year,
my wish for you is that each of you enjoy the gift of friendship from
someone who is special to you.
Happy New Year to all!
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