Life Long Friends

Today I went to a to pay my respects to a family friend who passed away. My sister Michele had a best friend in high school named Suzie. My sister is 12 years older than me and her high school friends have been around since I was very little. At 42 Suzie died suddenly from a brain aneurysm. She left behind a son and her husband Buddy. Sadly Buddy passed away a couple weeks ago and his memorial service will be tomorrow. As I visited with Paul about his parents and some of my earliest memories of them we talked about the long friendships they had. You see my sister and the group of friends she had in high school still stay in contact with each other. Over 40 years and so many of them are still friends. Friends married friends, there has been loss, divorce, old friends became new couples, and many changes in their lives. Still they are all friends. They lived in Michigan yet several of them have ended up here in AZ. Reflecting on these friendships a thought came to me... How often do we hear of high school friends remaining close so many years later? Staying in contact? Still being friends? How many of us can say we are still close with friends or will be close to our high school friends 40 years from now? There does not seem to be people who care enough to make a friendship last for that long anymore. They act as though friends are disposable. They can't accept change or forgive others, they loose contact and don't go out of their way to search out those they have lost contact with. We can become close to people we go to church with and if they move 3 miles away we loose contact with them. Why? Are we to embarrassed to seek them out after time has gone by? Are we just lazy? Have they offended us in some way? Can we not forgive those that may have hurt our feelings or wronged us in some way? Have we hurt them and are embarrassed to ask for their forgiveness? Some people come and go in our lives and that is OK, however their are some friends that are just worth the time, effort, and energy because there is no replacing them. Good friends are hard to find and sometimes harder to keep but a true friend is irreplaceable. I have found many friends I want to have my whole life. They are people who I enjoy being around, that make me laugh, they listen to me when i want to talk, have a shoulder to let me lean on, and arms that reach out in times of need. Friends that love me for who I am and allow me be that person. They are people who know me and accept me for who I am. People who I have forgiven but most of all people who can forgive me. Loosing friends is tough but never having them would be even tougher. I actually have a friend that I have had for 40 years. We can go years without speaking yet pick up the phone and talk. Life long friends are worth having yet they are those people we meet and befriend everyday of our lives that may just be that type of friend.