Friends...people you share life with, briefly or lifelong, with similar interests or polar opposites, people that support you, people that teach you...people that come and go but leave a defining mark. Friends come in all shapes and sizes and from all walks of life. How do you define "new friends?"
With the exception of our immediate family members, friends are all "new" at some point. I think of one of my best childhood friends, Bianca Banash. My mom came home from school registration at Croswell Elementary School in Romeo, Michigan in 1959 and told me that she had met a nice woman at school who had a daughter my age. They had moved to Romeo and her daughter, Bianca, was very nervous about starting 3rd grade in Mrs. Handley's room. Mom promised that she's have her daughter, Pam, find her on that first day and make sure she had a "new friend." Armed with a few descriptives about her strawberry blond hair and what her first day "attire" would be, I found Bianca on that first day and we were best friends for the next 10 years.
One of next "new friends" was my roommate from Western Michigan University. Our friendship developed quickly as we were living in the confines of dorm life and away from home for the first time. We were like Mutt and Jeff...tall Janet, short Pam, but had the same study habits, love of food and always able to find the silliness of life in all things. Those were great times, but the best is still in progress. We see each other a couple times of year, talk for an hour on the phone and never get tired to staying in touch. What a precious thing our friendship is!
There was Rita Cram and Sheri Moorhead in Adrian, and then many, many blessings of friendship have followed in the 36 years in Harbor Beach. I am now old enough to have lost some special friends. I am so thankful for the time we had together, especially Miss Barb Chapin who was so helpful after my father passed so suddenly. She could fix, motivate and keep things going with the best of them...and to this day I know she was an angel that God knew I would need. That's another post for another time. I have friends today that have been with me for years and friends that have been with me for days. Being in the retail business for 35 years, also enhanced my friendship base...it is limitless and a wonderful example of how people interact. But "numbers" of friends is not the goal. The interaction and communication of people and continuing to learn about yourself and how you can help others is what enriches and brings satisfaction to our busy lives.
"Make new friends and keep thee old. One is silver and the other gold".....a song sung in a round in Girl Scouts still makes perfect sense today!
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