Where did your friends go?

I am taking a trip to the Oregon Coast this weekend, so I won't be around on Monday. Because of that, I figured I would share Monday's post today. Tomorrow I want to talk about Claire C. Riley's book. But first...

I am blessed in my life to have a few REAL and very good friends. My grandfather used to say that if you could count your real friends on one hand, you were doing okay. When asked what a real friends was, he said it was somebody that liked you when you were at your worst...somebody who would drop what they were doing if you needed help...and somebody who would tell you truthfully when you were being an ass.

Most of us know plenty of people who fall in to that last category. The thing is, social media has demeaned the word "friend" to the point of near irrelevance. However, many of us can hearken back to a simpler time when we used phones to call our friend just to say hello or see how they have been. For all the simplicity of the social media, too many of us have forgotten how great it used to feel to hear from or (heaven forbid) get a visit from a friend.

With as easy as it is to stay connected, many have become disconnected. We have forced ourselves to believe that trivial sentences and random pictures interspersed with the occasional meme counts as touching base with our friends.

Now don't get me wrong, I actually have a few real friends that I have never met face-to-face. People who have stepped up and offered support and friendship to me despite whether it may be "popular" or not. But that is a rarity.

The thing is, I had some amazing friendships when I was younger. I had a crew that shared some amazing laughs with and who knew me when I was just a confused teen with a rough household of abusive parents and a penchant for consuming alcohol in unhealthy quantities. Some I lost along the way when my life took a nosedive. One still breaks my heart to this day...he was like my brother, only closer. Some just sat back and waited to see how I would handle this newest obstacle. But the thing is, we aren't kids anymore with tons of leisure time. We reached that curse called "adulthood" with all the responsibilities it entails.

So what is my point? Simple. Friends are a priceless item in your life. Do you have one you always mean to get in touch with, but for some reason time keeps slipping away? Well, I lost my best friend in the world to cancer a few years ago...and I never got to say goodbye. Not a day passes where I don't think of him. (I even named a character in my books after him just so I could have him around.) But if only I would have made it a point to stop what I was doing for a minute and call just see what was going on in his life...

Or, maybe you had a friend that you have had a falling out with...and perhaps you can't even remember why anymore. Well, is all you shared worth swallowing a tiny lump of pride and being the person to reach out and say, "I sure have missed you." 

Just something to think about.