My daughter understands how important it is to have and maintain friendships. She learned that more from her Dad then from me. It is something it has taken me a lifetime to learn.
By nature, I am more of a loner. Though I enjoy people, I am not always willing to invest the time it takes to be a true friend. I have a tendency to be stingy with my time. It is something that I have worked to overcome as I grow older.
On the other hand my husband has friends that go back to his childhood as well as new friends he has made. He is a great "people person."
Our daughter is the same type of person. She and her best friend met when they were six months old. We were neighbors and they grew up playing as we mothers talked. Over the years they have become as close as sisters. Like sisters, they have fought, stopped speaking to each other only to make up and become closer. They have survived marriage, divorce and remarriage for both of them. They have shared great sadness. Our daughter watched her friend have children and sadly was unable to conceive. So she became a beloved aunt to her friend's children. With her second marriage she became a mother to two stepson's who she loves like her own. She now has a wonderful grandson who she adores. Through it all they have been there for each other.
They even share a birthday month and in March they will be turning 50. How many people can say they have been friends for 50 years?
They call themselves Lucy and Ethel and to be honest some of their escapades would make great TV. They are such complete opposites in looks and in lifestyles, that it makes you wonder how their friendship has endured.
I am driven to write this blog because last night while I was sleeping my cell phone went off. My daughter had sent me a picture of her and her friend at a club where her friend's son's band was playing. A picture of two smiling women enjoying being together. It made me think of the years of friendship and all the pictures over the years. Though the faces have aged (very little), the love and joy in each other still shine through.
My daughter has many friends. Like her dad she still keeps up with friends from her school years and from her work. She and her husband collect friends where ever they go.
Friendships take work, dedication, tolerance and time. But my daughter knows that they are necessary to a full life. I admire that and aspire to be more like her.
