My Nicest Blessings

I am reading the book "Saving Graces" by Elizabeth Edwards (former political candidate John Edwards' wife) and have learned a lot from it. Her family has experienced and continues to experience huge trials. She has a lot to say about how she has found solace and strength in both friends and strangers. One of her best insights, I think, is her comment on community: "We didn't have to be the same; we just had to recognize what a great blessing we could be to one another."

I loved that. There are so many people that I don't have a lot in common with but have learned to love and enjoy in my life. What I know now is that we need each other and we need to understand what a blessing we can be to each other.

I like the way Peter DeVries says it as well: "Our business in life is not to see through one another, it is to see one another through."

There are a few really special people in my cranky life that make such a difference to me. The email messages that come at exactly the right moment, the ongoing love and friendship, the quiet understanding, the non-judgemental acceptance of me as I am, the wonderful relationships we are either just starting or continuing -- these people continue to be such bright spots in my life, usually when I need their brightness most.

I think it was Elaine Cannon that said something like this (and I am paraphrasing here): "Sometimes it's not that you did something for someone, it's that you are something to someone that makes all the difference."

This is what I have in abundance -- people that really are something to me. I consider them to be my nicest blessings. Thanks, friends, for being something important to me.