Karen, Kim, and Kelly
June 2024
Yes, my children have launched. They are now 23 and 26. They both left the nest a while ago. However, I am feeling their absence more because I moved to Utah in December of 2023, and my children live in Indianapolis.
Ouch!
However, there are some silver linings. I have more time to connect with some of my friends. For example, I was able to drive down to Cedar City to see my friend Kim and her sister Kelly. Kim has some grandchildren who live there, so she tries to travel from Orange County to Iron County about once a month.
I have known these two since the early 1970s when we were tweens all lived in Orange County, California. We know each others stories, so we can connect very quickly even after significant absences.
There are too many great quotes about friendship to review. However, here are three that I find help me explore the benefits and the workings of friendship:
“Friendship ... is born at the moment when one man says to another "What! You too? I thought that no one but myself . . .”
― C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves
“When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives mean the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is a friend who cares.”
― Henri Nouwen, Out of Solitude: Three Meditations on the Christian Life
“Sometimes being a friend means mastering the art of timing. There is a time for silence. A time to let go and allow people to hurl themselves into their own destiny. And a time to prepare to pick up the pieces when it's all over.”
― Gloria Naylor
May you have robust friendships that help support your and help you experience joy.
Related:
Social Engagement through the Life Span
Prayers for Sale: Book Review
Women Rowing North: Book Review
