Good friends are worth their weight in gold!

 Friends, I hear that word a lot from my Daughter. How her friends are doing this and that. How they get mad at each other, laugh with each other, and interact with each other. Any time I here her talk about it I say a small prayer. "Dear God, please let my Daughter have the kind of friends I do." Some may see that as a silly comment but let me explain.

 I started meeting the friends that made a difference in my life about the same age my Daughter is now. Some have come and gone. Lots of weird, crazy, insane people have come in and out of my life. Through all this bonds were formed with different people. A few of my friends were surprises. Lee Molpus, I met him in a fight. We slugged it out on my front porch. The next year.... friends. There are other stories, some that probably should not be repeated but they all end the same. Friends.

 Now the reason I want my Daughter to have the same kind of friends is this. I am now 40 years old, steady approaching 41. The majority of the friends I have now are the same as it was in high school and shortly after. Of course we don't see each other as much because we all have our lives, families and responsibilities to take care of. But I promise you, the same friends I called on in the 80's I can still call on today and they can call on me. We would drop anything for each other. They are there anytime they are needed.

 We have not needed Facebook, MySpace, or twitter to keep up with each other. We didn't have cell phones or texting, we have conversations and shared moments. I have met a lot of new friends and hooked up with some old ones on these social networks but I never needed it for the life long friends I have had.

 Mom and Dad probably wondered about some of them, and even got on to some of them when we were doing wrong. We have lived together, worked together, partied together, and yes got into trouble together. But they NEVER bailed on me even when I think they should have. We have been through a lot together. When I lost my brother in a car crash my friends are what kept me going. Kept me living and pushing forward. I pulled away from everyone for a long time and yet there they were when I came around. Still there for me, still showing the love that cannot be broken.

 You see the pictures I have posted. They are from long ago and just recent and you notice the same people show up in them. I have never really separated friends and family. That is how close they are. I have the same love and respect for them as I would any family member.

 So now I hope my earlier comment makes more sense. Why I would love to have my daughter have friends like mine. You can't always be with your kids, but you try to teach them right and then you let them out into this big world. I can only hope her friends will watch her back like my friends did mine.

 I look forward to many more years with them. I don't know what we will get into. Maybe we will be racing around a retirement home in wheel chairs together or just sitting on a porch watching grand kids but we will be together. This much I do know.