Friends

I just spent a weekend with an old friend from my college days, enjoying the music of the Texas Hill Country, sipping a little bourbon, and sitting and talking about the ways that life has treated us—sometimes kindly, others more harshly.  We are reaching the age when parents’ health is a concern, unless (as in my case) we have already lost our parents.  It is also a time when our children are becoming adults, and we talked about our pride and wonder at the people they are becoming.  Mostly, it was a time to reconnect, to remember our shared history and the bonds forged during a formative period in our lives, and to remind each other that those bonds will never be broken.  Friendship is something to treasure, one of the great human experiences that our lives offer, if only we will pay attention and put in a little effort.