Friends...

"When the character of a man is not clear to you, look at his friends."
-Japanese proverb

And that certainly holds true today. A few years ago I would have thought that I was 'characterless', if there is such a word. See, I have moved so much in my lifetime that I have had many, many friends over the course of the years, but not very many have remained so. I seem to have lived what I felt was a random life; not a lot of grounding. I have never had much problem making friends, it's just that I never had the hearts' desire to maintain relationships with them. I have lived so many places and for such short periods of time that I knew that sooner or later I would have to sever those ties that bind, and I got used to it and grew to accept it as part of my life.
The first major test of this was as a kid- heck, I didn't even have much of a solid relationship with my own father. Yes, my parents divorced when I was young. So, for me it was always natural that I didn't have that strong bond with my own father. Easy come, easy go. My mom and step dad moved us around a lot, so I didn't have that 'looking forward to the next year in school' kind of anticipation at seeing my friends again. More often than not I knew I wouldn't ever see them again. You learn to adapt, and you learn not to get too emotionally involved. But, along with learning to move on you do move on... I tried to get excited about living across the street from Disneyland (no joke- when I was about 13 we lived in a hotel across the street from my beloved Disneyland for almost a month. It was great- we saw the fireworks every night...) And I could also drum up some enthusiasm for moving back to Arizona and close to my stepbrother and stepsister, whom I adore to this day. So it wasn't all bad.
But I kinda digress... The 'lasting friend' department was pretty empty. Until now. Over the course of the past few years I have made some incredible friends, and I have decided to work hard to keep them in my life. This is kind of fun- I get phone calls telling me the everyday kinds of things that keep me 'in the loop' about my friends lives. I get funny/silly/ridiculous/sad emails that really ring true to me. Cards and gifts at Christmas, and, best of all, I get visits from these friends. I was stunned the first time one of them wanted to bring her entire family here to see me. ME? Yes, me. We had a blast.
The real reason I'm writing about this today is that one of my friends is going through a very dark time. Her child has been sick with cancer, and we all have been worried beyond belief about her prognosis. Right now things are looking up for her, and we are all grateful to God for sparing her precious young life.
But that's not the main thing here- the main thing is that my friend and her husband are finally getting to see what loving is all about. WE, as her friends, here in my home, and in her hometown, are able to give back some of the love and friendship to them that they have given without any hesitation to us. She seems stunned by all the community outpouring of love that is being shown. I'm not. I just appreciate the opportunity to be a (small) part of what is going on for her. I'm happy to have some 'friend' continuity in my life for a change. And, if my Japanese proverb is true, I'm really happy to be able to 'see' my character, because it really is stellar, just like my friends.