Giving Thanks Day 5 - Friends

Today, I am thankful for friends.

I have been so fortunate throughout my life to have always had a large group of friends.  Maybe this is directly related to my complete inability to keep my mouth shut, which causes me to talk to people everywhere I go?  Just a thought. I have always been very social and open, and making friends is never something that was hard for me.

I have friends still that I have literally had since preschool or first grade.  Several of them, in fact.  

It is crazy for me to think that I'm at the point of my life where I've had friends get married, friends get divorced, friends have affairs, and friends have spouses who have had affairs.  I've had friends get married again.  Lots of friends have had babies - some have had them at less than opportune times, and some can't have them at all.  I've had friends lose babies, and I don't mean in the "lost in a store" sort of way.  I've had friends struggle with lots of demons, including addiction, gambling, and alcoholism.  I had a very close friend pass away now fifteen years ago, and the loss of that friendship is still deep.  I still cry when I think of her and think of the things that she will never get to experience or see.   

Thankfully, it seems that the good times I've had with my friends far outweigh the struggles - sleepovers when we were little, riding our bikes, lazy summer days at the lake, living in a dorm together, working at Gap (FOR YEARS, where I made some of my friends I am still closest with), graduating from college, finding our first "big girl" jobs.....I could go on and on.  

I think to have great friends you have to be a great friend.  I don't know if that's true for me, but I am surrounded by some of the best friends I could imagine.  They may not be people I speak to every day (although the beauty of Facebook and Skype has made that SO much easier) or friends that I see every year, however I have the kind of friends you can count on.  Far more than half of the donations we received for Katie's adoption fundraising came from friends.  Lots came from friends I've had since elementary school, and some from friends I have not even seen since I graduated from high school.  It is that sort of friendship that is overwhelming to me.  I only hope that I am that sort of friend.  

The kind of friends I'm making now are different than the kind I made fifteen years ago.  And I'm OK with that.  I have made some of the most incredible, amazing friends in the last eighteen months, all because of sweet Katie.  I know it seems like most posts have something to do with Katie, but I cannot explain how she draws people together.  I am so glad she does, because she has led me to some great friends.

I hope, if we are friends, that I have been a good friend to you.  I know how much I am thankful for the amazing friendships I have been so fortunate to be a part of!