Friendship...
Have you ever wondered what make a true friend? We all have different criteria for friendship and it varies by age, circumstances, and life choices.
For example a two-year-old's friend is anyone that will take the time to talk to them (or give them a lolly-pop;-)
A nine-year-old is friends with other nine-year-olds because they play together, but they are getting a little picker because a nine-year-old would NEVER be friends with a nine-year-old girl because girls have “cooties” and you can still catch “cooties” from any girl that isn’t your mother, grandmother or aunt.
A fifteen-year-old is more ok with being friends with someone of the opposite gender, but they still prefer friends of their own gender because they think their friends will tell them how to act, dress, feel and even think!
At 19 you’re friends with all those crazy people that are in classes with you because you know exactly who you are going to sit with. If you have a brain (I just mean that if you want to do well, not that you are necessarily super smart) then you choose to sit with people that will listen, help you study and keep you on tract. If you’re stupid, like meJ, you’ll sit with your friends that help you get kicked out of Old Testament Survey. And somehow, these people that keep you from listening, help you get demerits, and do all they can slide under the radar or the deans office, become your friends.
By the time you’re 25 you are much wiser and your lifetime of experience helps you choose friends that are much better for you – friends you work with.
In your 40’s you don’t have time to have friends, you are just focused on your marriage, kids and home, but someone those things are your friends. They are your life and all you need.
Around 60ish your best friends become your adorable grandchildren who fill your life with cute sayings, pictures and finger print smudges all over your house (this time you don’t care because your grandchildren can do no wrong).
And 75+ your friends are the people that take care of you.
Of course, all of these instances are up for change due to what’s happening in your life. If a two-year-old is given a sour lolly-pop they aren’t interested in friendship with people that have lolly-pops. If a nine-year-old boy meets a tom girl, he could careless that she’s a girl, as long as she is willing to go catch worms and frogs with him. A fifteen-year-old may not take the advice of her friends if she doesn’t like what’s happening in her friends life. The college student may not sit with his friends in class, because his friends are in different classes, so they just meet up afterwards. At 25 – your co-workers may not be your friends because you don’t really interact, so it’s just a “hi” in the hallway and you’ve been burned by a relationship or two so you’re not willing to trust anyone. Parents may not have a friendship with their child because their child never talks to them. Some 60 year-olds may not live near grandchildren, so they choose to be friends with their neighbors. And at 75 if you’re still aware of what’s going you just enjoy anyone that talks with you because you don’t get around very much.
The point of all this? Good question!! No, not really. The point is friendship is what we make it. Do we have to be friends with everyone that gives us a lolly-pop? No, but we could be. Do we have to be friends with the people at work even when our heart hurt so much it’s about ready to break? No, but they might be hurting too. Do we have be kind to the pesky neighbor that always walks on your grass? No, but maybe if we were we could ask them not to walk on our grass so much.
A personal note – I’m a friend that LOVES to talk (I know you can tell that by the length of this blog) but the truth…that’s what friendship is to me. Yes, I’ve been given the sour candy, forced to play with a stinky gross boy, tried to live up to what my friends told me to do, sat with great friends in college and gotten kicked out of class, and made a best friend at work. As for the rest of them, they are yet to come, but I can’t wait!!
Speech – it can be our biggest help or our biggest hindrance. What will our speech do to our friendships – will it make them or break them? So do it – talk to someone today, make a friend!
For example a two-year-old's friend is anyone that will take the time to talk to them (or give them a lolly-pop;-)A nine-year-old is friends with other nine-year-olds because they play together, but they are getting a little picker because a nine-year-old would NEVER be friends with a nine-year-old girl because girls have “cooties” and you can still catch “cooties” from any girl that isn’t your mother, grandmother or aunt.
A fifteen-year-old is more ok with being friends with someone of the opposite gender, but they still prefer friends of their own gender because they think their friends will tell them how to act, dress, feel and even think!
At 19 you’re friends with all those crazy people that are in classes with you because you know exactly who you are going to sit with. If you have a brain (I just mean that if you want to do well, not that you are necessarily super smart) then you choose to sit with people that will listen, help you study and keep you on tract. If you’re stupid, like meJ, you’ll sit with your friends that help you get kicked out of Old Testament Survey. And somehow, these people that keep you from listening, help you get demerits, and do all they can slide under the radar or the deans office, become your friends.
By the time you’re 25 you are much wiser and your lifetime of experience helps you choose friends that are much better for you – friends you work with.
In your 40’s you don’t have time to have friends, you are just focused on your marriage, kids and home, but someone those things are your friends. They are your life and all you need.
Around 60ish your best friends become your adorable grandchildren who fill your life with cute sayings, pictures and finger print smudges all over your house (this time you don’t care because your grandchildren can do no wrong).
And 75+ your friends are the people that take care of you.
Of course, all of these instances are up for change due to what’s happening in your life. If a two-year-old is given a sour lolly-pop they aren’t interested in friendship with people that have lolly-pops. If a nine-year-old boy meets a tom girl, he could careless that she’s a girl, as long as she is willing to go catch worms and frogs with him. A fifteen-year-old may not take the advice of her friends if she doesn’t like what’s happening in her friends life. The college student may not sit with his friends in class, because his friends are in different classes, so they just meet up afterwards. At 25 – your co-workers may not be your friends because you don’t really interact, so it’s just a “hi” in the hallway and you’ve been burned by a relationship or two so you’re not willing to trust anyone. Parents may not have a friendship with their child because their child never talks to them. Some 60 year-olds may not live near grandchildren, so they choose to be friends with their neighbors. And at 75 if you’re still aware of what’s going you just enjoy anyone that talks with you because you don’t get around very much.
The point of all this? Good question!! No, not really. The point is friendship is what we make it. Do we have to be friends with everyone that gives us a lolly-pop? No, but we could be. Do we have to be friends with the people at work even when our heart hurt so much it’s about ready to break? No, but they might be hurting too. Do we have be kind to the pesky neighbor that always walks on your grass? No, but maybe if we were we could ask them not to walk on our grass so much.
A personal note – I’m a friend that LOVES to talk (I know you can tell that by the length of this blog) but the truth…that’s what friendship is to me. Yes, I’ve been given the sour candy, forced to play with a stinky gross boy, tried to live up to what my friends told me to do, sat with great friends in college and gotten kicked out of class, and made a best friend at work. As for the rest of them, they are yet to come, but I can’t wait!!
Speech – it can be our biggest help or our biggest hindrance. What will our speech do to our friendships – will it make them or break them? So do it – talk to someone today, make a friend!
posted by Katiebug at 3:26 PM
1 Comments:
Wow Katie, I just read this. It is actually quit profound and kind of made me cry. I love the picture at the end. I miss and love you Hon!!!
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