Friday: I get by with a little help from my friends.

There are three types of friends: those like food, without which you can't live; those like medicine, which you need occasionally; and those like an illness, which you never want.

There is not a day that goes by that I am not thankful for the friends in my life. I wish that I could fully let them know how important they are to me. Yet, it seems that real friends don't have to be reassured that you love and need them. They just seem to know.


My mother, Miss Ruth, always said: If you want to have a friend, you have a be a friend. I guess that she was my best friend for all my life. When did we become friends? When did our relationship change from me being the child to me being a woman and an equal? I think that it was about the age of 28.


It was at the age of 28 that my perceptions of self changed from being a girl to being a woman and a mother. I had always just thought of Mom as mother - A supportive and authorative person on whom I could rely. But when I became a woman and a mother, my understanding of my mother changed. I could see my faults in her. I could see my strengths in her. I could see all that I liked and disliked about me in her. And that is when she became my friend. All of my friends that have lasted longer than a minute, usually had these qualities of reflection of who I am, and perhaps more importantly, who I want to be.


More and more as I work to expand my possibilities and potentialities I see shifts in the new friends that are coming into my life. Some enter to show me how I need to change some negative behaviors into positive behaviors. Some enter to teach me tolerance and acceptance. Some enter to teach me to say NO. Some enter to teach me to say YES. And the really cool ones that I am meeting now are of an age that many would call the golden years. They are teaching me that possibilities do not end at 50 or 60 or 70 but possibilities constantly keep expanding if we are willing to continue to grow.


I am meeting men and women who are more willing to take risks in order to make their dreams a reality. The dreams vary from wanting to enter a new career to creating a life of contentment and quiet joy. These are my dreams at this time in my life and my friends, both old and new, are helping me learn this lesson.


But my first friend and undying friend is my mother. She does not live in this physical reality anymore but she lives in my heart. And the heart is where all friends reside.



imagine the possibilities: http://lifewithmother.com