Family, Friends and Associates

The people in our lives seem to fit into these three categories. There are also those who we don't like at all (our enemies) we stay away from and therefore they are not in our lives.

Family: The people who have to accept us, and should love us. They consist of the people who we live with and the collection of people who we used to live with and others who the people who live with us now used to live with. We have no influence on who is family. We often don't even have much in common with our family. Why is that? What we have with family is "History".

Associates: Usually the people who work with us or go to school and church with us. We have a little influence on who our associates are, because we can choose where we work and live, and they have made similar choices. Making similar choices displays that we have some things in common with our associates. But, like our family, our association is not by direct choice, only circumstance.

Friends: A friend does not become a friend unless either we or they make a choice to become a friend.
How do we make friends? We must show interest in an acquaintance for them to become a friend. We must choose to go and talk to them or call them on the phone. We must do it repeatedly for the friendship to grow. We must share ourselves honestly. We must care enough to remember them and the things they have shared with us.
Some people make friends instinctively. Some people feel lost without a friend.
My life has been blessed by a few friends. I have to admit that it was because they made the choice to be a good friend. Making a new friend is not one of my talents. In elementary school, Lisa T. was my best friend. She always called me to see if I could play. I had a group of good friends in Junior high and high school. They included Debbie B. and Yvonne D. I haven't done what I should to maintain these friendships, but when, after many years, I have had a chance to talk to them, I know that they are still true friends.
In Arizona, Lanae K. was my friend. She did the work necessary to build a friendship. She taught me to bake bread and make freezer jam and frozen corn. But mostly she set an example of how to be a good friend. Even now, she remembers my birthday and contacts me. Now Judy W. is the one who calls me and shares her life with me.
I saw this saying on the bottom of an e-mail:
Good friends are hard to find, harder to leave, and impossible to forget.
It made me think of my friends. I realized that even though I do not do my part in
building or maintaining a friendship, they are still a very important part of my life.
Thanks for being a friend to me even though I'm not easy to be friends with.