A Vast Assortment

Today, I was thinking about how lucky I am to have a very vast assortment of friends in my life.

I have people that I consider to be my best friends, and I hold them very near and dear to my heart. These people are my family, even if not by blood.

I have people that I calll my "life-long" friends and I hold them very near and dear to my heart. They are like family to me.

I have people that I see occasionally, but would still call my best friends because we can go weeks without talking to each other and pick up right where we left off the last time we saw each other. And I know that I could either of these friends when in a pickle, and they'd do anything to help me.

I have friends that I went to school with, that I consider to be my good friends. We may not talk often, or talk about silly stuff all the time (read: poop). But my life is better for them being in it, and I'd take a bullet for anyone of them.

I have new friends that I'm spending more time with and learning more about all the time. They also happen to be members of my church, so I'm finding spiritual connections that I think I was missing. 

I have friends who are snobby, generous, compassionate, selfish, arrogant, loving, extraodinarily talented, funny, closedminded, openminded...and the list could go on and on.

I guess what I'm trying to get at is that, by allowing myself to be open to as vast array of friendships and people, I've found some of the most amazing people I could ever hope for to have in my life. I guess I'm lucky that way. I feel like I could call on almost any of these people in times of crisis and they'd all be there for me. It's a good feeling to know that you have support out there in the world, isn't it? What would a life without friendship be? I can't even begin to imagine it.

I often think of how friendships come and friendships go, and it makes me sad because I do fall for my friends so quickly. I'm a lover, not a fighter, and I fall in love with new friendships quickly and hard. I know some people can just let friendships slip away and fade when they've run their course, but I've always found that hard. I find myself wondering 5 months down the road how they're doing and what's new in their life. Sometimes, friendship comes back around and I have some friendships like that too. But sometimes, maybe it's not meant to come back around. Maybe, the purpose is over and life must continue without them. Who knows. I shall ponder the meaning of friendship for a while longer.

But fate ordains that dearest friends must part.  

~Edward Young