To my blessings

What a wonderful day!  Hairs are cut and had lunch with a great friend.  As we were headed home, I mentioned to mi esposa, “wouldn’t you love to trace the roots of our friendship?”  It stimulated that part of my brain that looks for patterns, and for the life of me, I couldn’t find one.  In this particular case, the friendship started before we even knew each other!  I seated her for a concert at which I was ushering.  One thing led to another and we discovered each other at a retired teachers’ meeting in Milbank, only to realize we had the same dear friend.  From there, the friendship and love just happened, and we rejoice every day.  But that was only one friend.  How about the others? For example, what about that dear thing that said she could never go out with someone like me?  Married her and been in love for over 40 years.  Or the three women that were convinced I wasn’t worth much of their time the first time we met at an in-service the summer before I started teaching here?  Life-long friends.  Mutually, we take care of each other, love each other, and I rely on them (well, the two that are still with us!) to keep me in line.  Of course, it is an impossible task, and they gave up long ago, but it really sounded good, didn’t it?  Or the two young gentlemen (and one spousal unit) who were former students of Cath’s?  I would not hesitate to trust any of the three with my life. Somewhere (I’m sure it was a Hallmark moment) I read if you are blessed with one good friend during your life, you are exactly that.  Blessed!  I can truthfully report that I am more than blessed!  I could list several other friends who have changed my life, held my hand, trusted me with their kids, are related to me…Now I sound like I am bragging, but you have no idea how fortunate I have been.  And you know what, Amy Lowell had it right.  “Christ! What are patterns for?”  Thank you my friends, however we got that way! Know you are loved!