On Friendship: Through Storms & Sunsets…
“A true friend is the greatest of all blessings, and the one that we take the least care of all to acquire.” François de la Rochefoucauld
On Friendship: Through Storms & Sunsets... a setting sun
Our friendships matter… Even if, from time to time, we find things about each other that irk us, we make time to talk things out and remember the bond that brought us together as friends. Because my family traveled and moved quite a bit in my early years, I learned to make friends quickly and be accommodating of changes and shifts in our friendships. My closest friends go way back, and one thing that has always pulled us together is laughter. Not only laughter in good times, but the ability to ease each others woes with humor in harsh times. I value my girlfriends for being there through storms and sunsets and I thank them all. Some I haven’t seen in years, and Facebook brought several of us together. Others I see regularly or speak to occasionally, but whenever we reconnect and talk, it is a familiar feeling; like the satisfaction we get from enjoying a good meal. 🙂
A Time to Talk by Robert Frost
When a friend calls to me from the road
And slows his horse to a meaning walk,
I don’t stand still and look around
On all the hills I haven’t hoed,
And shout from where I am, ‘What is it?’
No, not as there is a time talk.
I thrust my hoe in the mellow ground,
Blade-end up and five feet tall,
And plod: I go up to the stone wall
For a friendly visit.
“Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.” Anais Nin
On Friendship: Through Storms & Sunsets... choppy waters on a stormy day
As I read the prompt from MamaKat’s Writers Workshop on how I met my best friend, I thought that it would be best to consider that I do have several close friends, and to applaud them all. Most of my long standing friends were classmates in school; from kindergarten through college. Some I met through work, like Di, and others through volunteering/fund-raising activities or through my children. When I think of my friends, two more qualities always stand out; the empathy we share and the understanding that our friendship is not based on material things. I added three poems to help me articulate what friendship means to me and I hope you enjoy them. I believe they say it all… Perhaps, I will add more thoughts later. What does friendship mean to you? The blog hop continues… Rules below. Feel free to change/update a post you added before. 🙂
✿♡✿MeetUp Two Weeks Long Blog Hops -5/9-5/23✿♡✿
MeetUp Monday-Sunday Two Weeks Long Blog Hop for Blog Posts. Rules Below!
MeetUp Monday-Sunday Two Weeks Long Facebook Fan page & Networked Blogs Blog Hop
Love and Friendship by Emily Bronte
Love is like the wild rose-briar,
Friendship like the holly-tree—
The holly is dark when the rose-briar blooms
But which will bloom most constantly?
The wild-rose briar is sweet in the spring,
Its summer blossoms scent the air;
Yet wait till winter comes again
And who will call the wild-briar fair?
Then scorn the silly rose-wreath now
And deck thee with the holly’s sheen,
That when December blights thy brow
He may still leave thy garland green.
“Friendship is a plant of slow growth and must undergo and withstand the shocks of adversity before it is entitled to the appellation.” George Washington
On Friendship: Through Storms & Sunsets... friendship blooms
Four Things Make Us Happy Here by Robert Herrick
Health is the first good lent to men;
A gentle disposition then:
Next, to be rich by no by-ways;
Lastly, with friends t’ enjoy our days.
I’ve never understood people who choose to abuse the bonds of friendship… Even if we have tons of them, each brings something special to the relationship; they add a ray of sun to our lives unless they are not real/true friends. But, I am talking about our true friends; you know, the ones who stand by us when the going is tough and who ask the hard questions to help us through our stuff. If we spend one moment just to acknowledge our friends and thank them, it would add to our joy. So thank you to all my friends over the years; both new and old, and close or far away. 🙂
What are your thoughts? How do you view your friendships? What do you do to show appreciation? Do share. Thank You! 🙂
✿♡✿Again, Update your submitted post/add a post you’d like others to read/comment on!✿♡✿
BLOG HOP STEPS/RULES: The rules are easy peasy.
♥Add your post to Linky #1,
♥add your fan page/networked blog (if you have one) to Linky #2,
♥leave me a comment or question especially if we haven’t already met,
♥Click on the links above your post & visit as many fellow blogger posts as you wish,
♥comment/like their post, and/or fan their Facebook page/Networked blog,
♥Let them know you’re from our Two Week MeetUp Blog Hop ~ they will return the love
♥and spread the word.
✿♡✿Thank you All!✿♡✿
This post was inspired by one of MamaKat’s Writers Workshop prompts: Describe how you met your best friend. ♥Also, it is dedicated in loving memory of my Dad…♥
Positive Motivation Tip: Our friendships nurture us through life’s ups and downs and when we can, we must pause and say thanks.
Related articles
- Legacy friends: Deciding whether they’re keepers (psychologytoday.com)
- Friendship (jackzeng.wordpress.com)
PHOTO CREDITS: All Photographs from my personal collection
Until Next Time…
Ask. Believe. Receive. ©
Elizabeth Obih-Frank
Mirth and Motivation
Positive Kismet
I love the Frost poem. I haven’t come across it before.
Lovely writing Eliz. I enjoyed this immensely.
Frost is always a favorite.
Eliz
A beautiful post to read before I head out to work this morning. The pictures are beautiful. Friendship has a huge impact upon our lives, I have a few really close friends who are always there for me to share my pain or for sharing happier times, and some who I enjoy the moments we share together for the world is a better place when you make connections for sharing your journey of life, for making a world of difference in someone’s life has always been my aim and my desire.
I want to keep that my friendship is forever and peaceful.
If my friendship will be lost, I can’t live easily..
The best friends are the ones you don’t see face to face for years and then when you do pick up right where you left off. It’s an amazing bond and I’m blessed to have a few.
Thanks for a lovely post!
My friends mean the world to me and I am lucky that I include my sister as one of my best friends. My oldest friendship (not including my sister) has lasted almost 40 years! Many friends have passed in and out of my life, but I have a few best friends that have been around–and stuck around–for years. Wonderful post!
My friends have been a lifeline for me in the good and not so good years.I tookk it for granted but should really celebrate like you have done with this post.
B
I am lucky enough to have quite a few lifetime friends- I call them ‘Lifers!’ We know that we could call on each other for anything in the world even though we are spread all over the country now…
Wonderful post. Loved the quotes and the reminder about the value of friendships!
Thanks, Eliz.
Oh, Elizabeth, this is another – so timely – lovely post that tugs at my heartstrings!
“I’ve never understood people who choose to abuse the bonds of friendship…” jumped off the screen at me… thank you so much for your observations and kindness in creating such thoughtful posts. 🙂
Love the Anais Nin quote. This reminds me of a draft I’ve had sitting for months about a friend.
Elizabeth-I’ve added Mirth & Motivation to my blogroll (under Writers that Inspire) You Do! Visiting your blog is like a peaceful walk in the woods.
I remember that Anais Nin quote — hadn’t thought about it in a while.
I’m made friends at every stage of my life – from primary school to university, work to volunteering. Each friend represents a different part of me — one once told me that if I put all of them in a room, they’d have little to talk about — well except me!
Some friends I talk to every day, others once in a while but when we do speak, it’s as if we pick up the threads of the conversation we were having before. There’s no time, no distance.
Our friends are reflections of ourselves. What I love about each is bigger than their flaw.
Thanks for this post, Elizabeth. Now, I’ll have to email my friends!
Marcia
Beautiful tribute to friends, Elizabeth. I have always been the person that has had one or two very close friends. As I’ve grown, like most people, we change, we move, we make new friends and, when fortunate get to see the old ones. The memories of friends stay forever though and are as fresh as when they’re made. Don’t forget our bloggy friends – I count you among mine! 🙂
That word ‘friend’ is so tricky for me. It’s an enigma. There are lots of people I like to have discussions and share ideas with, and enjoy seeing around, but a reciprocal relationship is something I find difficult to commit to. I know the value of friendship from a psychological perspective, but I seem to hover on a different plane – it’s nice if it happens but it’s not vital to my existence, not something I necessarily need. I tend to operate at a head level rather than a heart level. I’ve had ‘friends’ but there is always the point where they let me down, disappoint, and I always have to be the strong one. No one person, except my husband, has been steadfast and true.
It’s true.. I find when we’re younger, the quantity of friends is more important, but as we get older, it’s the quality that matters. With my closest friends, we’ve seen the best & worst of each other, and it’s fantastic that we’re mature enough to deal with the bad and get over it.
I think that friendships only work if people communicate with each other and use constructive criticism rather than cutting the other person down.
“Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.” Anais Nin
+
related to the philosophy of dialog
as written down systematically
by Martin Buber …
Beautiful post!
thanks again, Eliz, for inspiring a similar effort:
That’s a lovely poem from Frost. But I particularly like the Anais Nin quote. It was sort of an Aha! moment for me, reading it.