Friends… How many of us have them?

As I reflect on my life I can’t help but recall that one of the worst reasons I disconnected with a good friend was over something so minor. It wasn’t because she mistreated me, it wasn’t because she gossiped about me, it was because when we would get together she would be on her phone for majority of the time. In my eyes that meant it was time for me to disconnect. I was young. I was impatient. As an adult I realize I did not handle this situation right.

I still remember calling my daddy to ask him what he thought. I didn’t want to make a hasty decision. He felt like I should look past that. He felt it was no big deal and that I should just talk to her, but I didn’t. I just disappeared. Now that I look back on it, I cannot believe I did that. She was really one of the most solid and down to Earth people I have ever come across!! But, I guess I didn’t think things through.

Instead of weighing the pros and cons all I saw was what was not right. This was years ago but I believe people have gotten worse today. People are quick to disconnect. A few months ago I was actually talking to an older woman that mentioned how she cut a friend off over 20 dollars. I couldn’t believe that. It sounded so trivial to me. Do we value friendship today?

On the other hand a while back I met a senior citizen at the batting cage and she shared with me that she still played on a softball team with friends from Kindergarten. They were her best friends to this day. I thought that was a bit strange but through everything in life even relocation they had managed to hang onto each other. They must have really valued their friendship to stay connected so many years.

Nowadays, especially as an adult, it’s hard to come across good and genuine friends. One minute people are smiling in your face and the next minute it’s something else. So when we do come across a good genuine friend we should not be so quick to disconnect over minor things. We have to know when to hold on and when to move on.

I recently watched a short clip of Oprah speaking on her friendship with Gayle and the way she described it was unbelievable. It sounds like the kind of friendship one can only dream of. While I’m sure it’s not perfect it’s clear that they’ve managed to build something worth holding onto. I’m sure they have faced challenges and worked through issues during their lengthy friendship as no friendship is perfect. It’s important to hang on to a true friend because I truly believe they are few and far between.