Friends

[picture via creative thursday]

"It takes courage to be a real friend. A friend is a person who will suggest and render the best for us regardless of the immediate consequences. Sir Winston Churchill became Great Britain’s greatest friend in his country’s darkest hour because he was courageous enough to call for “blood, toil, tears, and sweat” when some would have accepted him more readily as a friend had he advocated peaceful surrender. President Abraham Lincoln was once criticized for his attitude toward his enemies. “Why do you try to make friends of them?” asked an associate. “You should try to destroy them.” “Am I not destroying my enemies,” Lincoln gently replied, “when I make them my friends?"~ Marvin J. Ashton

I loved this quote. I think friendship is on my mind today because of a sweet email I got from my friend Holly this morning. There are so many people who have had an impact on my life and I don't think I acknowledge them enough. Holly is one of them. She moved from here a while back and I still miss their family.

My family members are high on my list of friends. I have a husband who is my dearest friend in the world. I love having a daughter who can tell me that I'm making too much of an issue and need to move on, a daughter-in-law and son who allow me into their everyday life via phone calls and email, and another son who spends more time than you might expect with his [boring old] parents. I also have a wonderful sister who lives way too far away to suit me. The list could go on and on.

Whether we are linked by blood or by circumstance, all of you are people I love dearly. Thanks for making my life happy.