Forever Friends

A chance encounter reconnected my forever-friend Pam and me two days before Christmas.  Such serendipity was a true Christmas gift.  Once inseparable, Pam and I now have lives in different time zones. Yet, our long, deep friendship has amazingly weathered the years and the miles.  When we talk, it is as if the decades melt away and we are still those same two school girls finding joy and laughter in innocent times together. Seeing Pam caused me to reflect on the precious value of friends in my life.  These days, we tend to use the term "friends" in new, virtual ways.  Surely, Pam and I communicate via email and Facebook.  But there is nothing like seeing her face, hearing her voice and her laugh, and feeling her warm hug.  While I see value in those new ways of being a friend, my favorite friendships involve real, in-person encounters that transcend the good and not-so-good times.  Someone in whom you can confide over a cup of tea.  Someone who will hold your hand when all you can do is cry.  Someone who can be counted on to be trustworthy and loyal.  What comfort it is to know that no matter how much life throws at us and how rapidly things change these days, cherished forever-friendships last.