Friends

Friends are people who care about your welfare.  Simple as that.  There are varying degrees of friendship and I've witnessed some in the last few days.

One friend was worried about how I felt after reading the posts on gun control.  She'd been afraid to participate in case the angry cop came after her.  Isn't that an eye opener about cops??  She told me she'd recently been bullied by a Canadian cop over a minor traffic infraction and had reported him.  She was told there were many complaints against him but then received no further notice on her complaint.  One friend just wanted to make sure I'd be okay.

Today I found out an old, old friend had suffered a stroke last week.  We correspond by Facebook these days because she's lived out of province for many years.  I correspond with her daughter on Facebook, too, and that's how I found out she'd had a stroke.

Irene will be okay, I believe, because it sounds like a mild stroke.  Unfortunately, she's the caregiver for her husband who has dementia and that's a whole different worry.  The end result is that their care will fall on the shoulders of their family and that's something we seniors (for the most part) dread more than death.  They have a large, loving, and close family which will help in the long run but it's still a burden we just don't want to become.

Irene and I were very close friends when our children were young.  Our little families were pretty darned poor so good friendships with good people were very important.  She and her family moved to N.B. quite a few years ago and we gradually lost touch but Facebook reconnected us.  

Regardless of how many years had passed or how many miles separated us, a true good friend will remain such for life.  One of the most heartwarming things I heard from her daughter today was that Irene specifically wanted me to be told what had happened.  It made me cry, but many things make me cry.  It reinforced the thread of friendship that can't be broken.

Yes, there are different kinds of friends and all are needed and wanted in our lives.  A broken friendship is one of the worst experiences you can have, especially if it's something that can't be mended.  I've thankfully only experienced a tiny few of those and have been blessed with some of the most decent people in the world to be part of my life.  

I've been feeling a little vulnerable lately and hearing about and feeling concern for Irene is bringing me back to reality.  The nasties in the world don't really matter.  Only the good people in your life have any meaning.