Many people do not know the worth of true friends. Either they have not experiences the joys of true friends or they have not been blessed with the experience of having any. But those that know what it takes to be a true friend also know how easy it is to not tell them how much you appreciate them. So this is showing my appreciate for all that you have done for me, currently do for me, and will continue to do for me in the future... as I will do the same for you! YOU ARE ALL APPRECIATED EVERYDAY!
I found this story and have loved it from the day that I first read it. It was originally written in terms of "girlfriends". But as I have also learned through the years, true friends can be male or female; as I experienced many of these scenarios with BOTH my female and male friends. So I could easily switch the words to "true friends" instead of "girlfriends". I hope you enjoy it...
Young and newly married, I relaxed under a pecan tree on a hot Texas summer day, drinking iced tea and getting to know my new sister-in-law, Estelle.
Not much older than I, but already the mother of three, Estelle seemed to me experienced and wise.
"Get yourself some girlfriends," she advised, clinking the ice cubes in her glass. "You are going to need girlfriends. Go places with them; do things with them." What a funny piece of advice, I thought. Hadn't I just gotten married? Hadn't I just joined the couple-world? I was a married woman, for goodness sake, not a young girl who needed girlfriends. But I listened to this new sister-in-law. I got myself some girlfriends. As the years tumbled by, one after another, gradually I came to understand that Estelle knew what she was talking about.
Here is what I know about them:
Girlfriends bring casseroles and scrub your bathroom when you are sick.
Girlfriends keep your children and keep your secrets.
Girlfriends give advice when you ask for it. Sometimes you take it, sometimes you don't.
Girlfriends don't always tell you that you're right, but they're always honest.
Girlfriends still love you, even when they don't agree with your choices.
Girlfriends might send you a birthday card, but they might not. It does not matter in the least.
Girlfriends laugh with you, and you don't need canned jokes to start the laughter.
Girlfriends pull you out of jams.
Girlfriends don't keep a calendar that lets them know who hosted the other last.
Girlfriends will give a party for your son or daughter when they get married or have a baby, in whichever order that comes!
And girlfriends are there for you, in an instant and truly, when the hard times come.
Girlfriends listen when you lose a job or a husband.
Girlfriends listen when your children break your heart.
Girlfriends listen when your parents' minds and bodies fail.
My girlfriends bless my life. Once we were young, with no idea of the incredible joys or the incredible sorrows that lay ahead. Nor did we know how much we would need each other. Pass this on to your girlfriends. Let them know how much you appreciate them.
