Friends

I don't think I try to be independent.  I know I am stubborn and yes, independent but when life gets heavy I don't usually ask for 'help'.  I seem to just 'muddle' my way through stuff and cope.  At one time I probably was a 'needy' individual who used my problems to get the sympathy of close friends.  Maybe I am reacting to that.  Maybe I have learned to cope better.

But recently I have realized my need for those friends who offer true friendship.  When I can call and ask to come for tea, when a friend meets me in the grocery store, sees the distress and says "come for tea", when a friend makes 'just the right strength' Ethiopian blend of coffee, then I realize how much I need my friends.  It wasn't that I had to unload all the happenings of life but the acceptance and the sharing of the load all contributed to the tension lifting and the freedom returning.

"Oh the comfort, the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person...."  is a line from a poem that I heard years ago and often think about.

Thank you, my friends!