Friends

Friends: we need them all.

Some of us need more than our fair share. There is the friend who laughs heartily to ALL of my jokes, even the ones that aren't funny, just because she decided ahead of time that I am funny. There is the friend who never has a harsh word, always looks and focuses on the good and positive. (If I ran off and joined the circus, she'd say: How nice, that you'll be able to learn how to walk the tightrope!) Then there is my creative friend, who always sees the potential in an old piece of fabric or a discarded chair, and whose children actually believe that I can sew the shoes that the models are wearing on the pattern cover. There is my running friend who joins me on my laps around town, sometimes we are laughing about life, sometimes just bitching, and occasionally bawling, because its all been just TOO MUCH. There are bold friends who are unafraid to say aloud what pitfalls they observe in me and how I may be deceiving myself. In earlier years there were my "moms of babies" friends, who would all hang around together, exhausted beyond belief and babble incoherently about feedings, rashes, and much coveted naps. Then there are my really smart friends, who haven't yet figured out that I can't really keep up with them intellectually, but I'm going to fake it and ride the wave for just as long as I can because I can learn stuff from them. There are annual camping friends, summer camp friends, family friends, and friends of friends. And I would be amiss to not mention you, my invisible friends. On a rough day, its incredibly gratifying to find a live-giving comment or e-mail when I sneak a minute to check my computer.

We are relational beings. That doesn't mean that maintaining friendships is necessarily easy and always fun and uplifting. Sometimes it really stinks. But I wouldn't even be half a person if I didn't have all of you, my friends.