Wonderful Friends

One of the things I am most grateful for is my friends. I have many friends of all types, some are rich some are poor, some are successful and some are not, some are successful in other ways besides money and some are not so successful. Each of my friends enrich my life in some way and I have learned over the years, that I cannot live without them. Even though I do not get to communicate with them or visit them or call them or even email them as much as I would like they are all in my hearts in some way.

I remember as a kid how I would wake up on a Saturday morning and go over to my grandparents' house and wait to see who would show up for coffee. If someone wasn't coming over, then we were going to visit someone. And nowadays, there is no way you would just pop in to someone's house and visit, it always has to be a planned event. It seems like our generation has cocooned so much that we forget who brings us happiness in our lives besides our family and that is our friends. We seem to forget to make time for our friends and socialize. Whenever my husband and I get together with our friends, we realize how much fun they are and wonder why we don't hang out with them more often. My parents and grandparents were always socializing with their friends and family. And they always had so much fun.

What made me think about our friends at Christmas was a teaching job that I was at on Friday. Every Friday morning since September, I have been teaching scrapbooking at a drop-in centre for low income people and people in need. I have really enjoyed teaching there because they have no expectations. They don't expect me to create masterpieces, they're just happy to get out of the house and have a place to go to socialize and make some pages. Never once have they complained about not learning anything and they just love whatever it is they do because they take my idea and make it their own. And they are just happy that I take the time out of my day to come and be with them and show them something new. They all gave me gifts and cards for Christmas and I brought them donuts. Their handmade gifts were so special and are something I will treasure forever. They helped me to realize that Christmas doesn't have to be this big major commercialized event. It just has to be something little and special. And now I consider these girls to be my friends, they're awesome!

Thank you to all my friends you make my life special and I hope in some way I touch your lives. This is the year for me to spend more time with my friends and not cocoon so much.

Have a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.