Friends In All Shapes, Sizes, and Stripes

Ah the guilt of posting when I have a huge paper and test looming over my head. That sentence means that this will be short and to the point.

I love my friends. I miss talking to Annymae...oh where, oh where have you been my dear Annymae? I know, I haven't called you either. Hopefully you're now reading this and overcome with guilt that you will now use to call me.

Seriously though, our friends provide us with a little extra flavor and chaos in our lives. We learn from them, we make mistakes with them, we go astray because of them, we experience joy, we have the kind of laughter that is understood only to those it involves, we experience pain, we experience loss, and we experience LIFE because of them.

Tonight it's comforting to me that as I sit in a very quiet library on a very small Christian college campus that I have friends all over the place. These are the kind of people that friends are made of. There are those long-time friends who call to check up on me and are awaiting my return at Thanksgiving. Yes, some of them now have husbands and babies, but they're still my great friends. I have a wonderful friend in PA that I've known for over 4 years now. There are times when we don't talk for several months, but we can always pick back up where we left off. I have a great gang of friends in Alexandria. Several of whom I'd like to keep forever. I have my best friends who are away at their own respective colleges. While the times may come and go, they're still my most trusted buddies ever. I've lost and gained their trust and they still love me. I have friends here at school. While we're still working out kinks and still learning to be friends, I do have pals. I have my parents, who are some of the greatest friends I could ever have. These are the people that make up my well, my me. These are the friends that we refer to do in our daily lives and that are always popping up in our memories and prayers.

So tonight I thank the Lord for you, my friends. I know I'm not great about keeping in touch more than once a week. Ok, every two weeks. But you mean the world to me. You've been there for me in the past, and I see the future as a lonely place without you. Thanks for being my buds.

Above all, friends may come and go, they may use us, abuse our friendship, love us, care more than we deserve, and oftentimes they may leave. Overall though, those friends that make up the "good stuff" in life are those who've been there through the good and the bad, and still love us. So here's to my friends who have stuck it out, and even those who haven't. I've loved, learned, and even lost because of you. I wouldn't trade that for all the Cherry Coke in the world.

And Annymae, Call ME!