Wrote out some Christmas cards at work. I used to send cards to everyone I thought I "should" send them too. For the last couple of years, I decided to only send them to who I really want to send them to. No fake cards. No "I'm sending you this nice holiday greeting, when I really don't even like you or know you and wouldn't talk to you the rest of the year" card. Now my list is much smaller, but much more genuine. I think I only sent 12 out this year.
I was thinking about the people I sent cards to.
3 are family, but not immediate family.
1 is a girlfriend I used to work with and for 17 years we write every Christmas. I always love hearing from her.
1 is my husband's best friend and wife.
2 are old friends, from way back, when I was that "other" person. But I still think about them and miss them.
And the other 5 are girlfriends, my "sisters" as I like to call them. Each one so special in their own way, each one sharing a unique relationship with me. These are the ones that really got me thinking. What I have with these friends, you can not buy, you can't plan, it just happens over time. Each one is close on a different level, for different reasons. Some go way back, others are newer. But with each one a tie - a connection. I can't even really explain what I'm trying to say. As I was writing out the cards, I was a little overwhelmed with the bond and feeling of love I have for each one of them. How glad I am that I have each particular one in my life. How lucky I am. I think "friends" are probably the most pure of all relationships. You instinctively love your parents and children. You are expected to love your family, and have no choice as to who your family is. You commit to love your spouse, and sex is a big factor in that relationship. But with friends, there is no obligation to love them. There is no underlying reason or instinct. Friends are drawn together, and held together by nothing other than genuine "like" for the other person. And its very delicate. It can not be one sided, as with a crush. The fact that it is mutual is the most beautiful thing about it. Two people that have a genuine bond of affection for each other, that does not rely on or is affected by family ties, instinct or sex.
And I think of the friend I lost. I miss her very much. If you are reading this, you know who you are. I miss you and think about you more than you know.
A true friend is one of the greatest posessions one can have.I love my sisters. More than they know. I guess this is my own little Christmas gift - to myself. If this is the only thing I get out of Christmas this year, it is so very full.
I just need to realize it.
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