Friends

We all have acquaintances, neighbors, colleagues, workmates, golf buddy's, or myriad other categories of people we have relationships with.  But the familiar lament of so many people is that they don't have many good friends.  That it's really, really hard to know someone well enough and consistently enough to be true friends.  Someone who you can count on and they can count on you.  I think it's right that it's pretty rare.  And when it happens it's a great thing.

I was thinking about the nature of friendships when we went to dinner tonight with two couples that we've known for years and years and years.  We were all in the Navy together and we've all faced the trials and rewards that that life brings.  One are true and deep friends who we see regularly, know well, go to church with, know each other's kids and their trials and tribulations, socialize with, have traveled with, and can count on when things go down sideways.  They are vitally important to us as friends who we value tremendously!

The other is a couple who we go back with to our early days in the Navy.  We were in our first squadron together.  We were close then and developed a friendship based on a common lifestyle.  We both had kids, we both didn't have much money, and we both experienced all the hardships of the life that the Navy brings.  And all the great things.  As it happened this couple moved on.  And we moved on.  To other duty stations, to other locations, to other relationships.  We all lived our lives, raised our families, and progressed through careers.  And as it happens we came together again in our very last duty station as we worked just down the street from each other.  We were even in the same carpool.  And then we drifted again as they moved to another life as did we.  And then we all retired and socialized again, played golf again, remembered the good times again, and reconnected.  And once again they moved away to another life.  But a couple times a year they come back to SoCal and we get together.  And I swear to you...it's just like we were young Navy couples again.  We laugh, we have fun, we tell lies that we all believe and we revel in the familiarity of a long, well entrenched friendship.  It's different than a continuous and deep friendship, but nonetheless it's pretty sublime.  

So the nature of friendship is wide and varied, but they are all valuable. Our relationships are perhaps the most important part of our lives.  Whether they be family, work, social, professional, or some other category, they are all important.  But some are special.  And I think tonight we all experienced something special.  And for that I'm grateful.