I've always had amazing friends. For as long as I can remember, very faithful friends. These are the kind of friends that become family as they fluff their pillows and hang their memory pictures right here in my heart.
There are a number of women in my life that came along a long time ago. They're still here in their very own heart spaces, shaking out the dusty rugs below their memory pictures every so often. No matter what else they're doing here, they're mostly turning on lamps in the dark spaces and speaking a language only we know.
The night before one of my friends got married, she gave me a card that said, "Tomorrow is happening largely because of you." She wrote about how our friendship had taught her that a person can see the beautiful and the ugly, really see it, in someone else, and then that person can still love unconditionally.
After seeing the very worst, we stayed...
"You probably have the most accurate picture of me, and still you are my friend."
Isn't that what we want from friendship? Someone who doesn't turn from our dark corners, but reaches for the lamp and our hand at the same time? Don't we want someone who shakes out our heart rugs not because they can't stand the dirt, but because they want us to have that feeling of clean, that freedom from lies and from faking? I love that about real friendship. And the laughter. I love the laughter, shaking all the chambers and knocking some of the more unwanted pictures right off the walls.
It's good.
So thank you, every kind of friend. My heart is brighter because I know you.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And now I will brighten the day of the two lovely ladies who won the Billy Jonas giveaway!
The first winner of the What Kind Of Cat Are You? CD is....
CHELE
The second winner of the Happy Accidents CD is...
JANET
Congrats, ladies! You'll love 'em, I just know it!
Chele and Janet, my email is in the sidebar, so send me your info. and I'll mail the CD's.
Thank you!
Congrats, ladies! You'll love 'em, I just know it!
Chele and Janet, my email is in the sidebar, so send me your info. and I'll mail the CD's.
Thank you!
44 clicked right here to comment:
What a gift it is to have friends like that. I found most of mine later in life (I was poor with regards to such friendship in my youth) and I think I'm all the more appreciative because of it. Not many are willing to look into those dark corners and love despite.
i thought this was going to be about me! wth?
I agree with your friend who wrote the card before her wedding day. Something about you, lets us know we can show you a real true selves.....and you'll like us anyway. Today when you came over on a moments notice and i had no time to clean, and you saw my toy-filled dusty house, and you still hung out chatted and laughed with me. That's great! Thank you! Maybe I'm no so bad after all.
such beautiful words, and oh, so true!
YES, this is what friendship is!! Such a blessing, and oh-so-necessary, for all of the reasons you so beautifully expressed!
I love the picture of you with your friends. I love this post. Frieds play such an important role in my life, especially those closest to me. They have seen the best in me, they seen the cranky in me, they have seen me yell at my children, they have seen me cry, they have seen me overwhelmed, stressed out, drunk, happy, exhilirated (not all at the same time) and they love me just the same.
You and I Heather, are just beginning our friendship journey.
I hope it is a LONG journey.
word 'em up.
took a dip at lone tree in your honor on sunday. nicer fo shizzle.
word 'em up.
took a dip at lone tree in your honor on sunday. nicer fo shizzle.
What a wonderful message! I love the thoughts of friendship and I began to think about my most valuable friendships.
My heart is warmed!
I love friends like this. Those are the people that you hold onto dearly and never, ever let go.
Still waiting for friendships like that. . .
This is a beautiful post. Thank you for sharing it!
And you are that rare gem - a true friend.
"Someone who doesn't turn from our dark corners, but reaches for the lamp and our hand at the same time?"
Yes. All accepting. It is a rarity. You and I are lucky if we find it in one person.
But it sounds like you are truly blessed. Good.
Love that picture!!
I wish you lived closer to me. But since you aren't Mormon, I would, of course, have to only see you in secret.
Transparent friendship is a most awesome gift. Amen? Amen.
This post made my heart swell with love and my eyes fill with tears. Thank you.
If only more of us had that in our lives. Such a gift.
I didn't find friends like this until I learned to BE a friend like that-in my 30's. and I love each of these women in ways that can't be described; what a lovely, lovely post!
That's exactly what I want out of a friend. Who knows me, all of me, and still chooses to be my friend. Someone who's brave enough to tell me the truth and brave enough to hear it too. Who's there for the good times and the bad and always plans on "fluffing their pillow and shaking out the rug." Always on my wall.
You sound truly blessed with your friendships.... Getting past the fake to really get to know someone takes time, but it's well worth the effort!
I have a sneaking suspicion that you are blessed with these kinds of friends because you ARE this kind of friend.
And this line? "turning on lamps in the dark spaces and speaking a language only we know" is absolutely wonderful.
What a warm, illuminating influence you have all over the blogosphere!
I have a few of those true friends.....and they are cherished. Thanks for reminding me of them today!
Have I mentioned that YOU ROCK. Because you do. Thanks for being such a sweet bloggy friend.
Sigh...I don't have those kind of friends around me anymore (by "around" I mean within 100 miles). I miss that a lot. One of my favorite quotes that summarizes what you put so beautifully:
"Oh, the comfort - the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person - having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but pouring them all right out, just as they are, chaff and grain together; certain that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and then with the breath of kindness blow the rest away." - Dinah Craik
I'm with Deb, I thought it was going to be about me ;) heehee, not really.
I love this post. You are an amazing woman and I am so very blessed to call you my friend.
I love shaking out the heart rug. Awesome metaphor and SO true! Friends are totally crucial to me. Like "life blood" crucial. Glad you have some of your own.
Thats great thanks for the information....
___________________
Susana
Online Marketing of your brand
This post is about the best kind of friends. The ones that I cherish and hold onto forever. I love the way you've "said it" with heart rugs, lamps and memory pictures...
I have been blessed to have friends like that in every state we have lived. I feel so very blessed to have those friends!!
Who knew I would find friends like this on-line?! so cool!
Friendships like that can ebb and flow and always seem to fit your life just the way you need them too. I don't know what I would do without my girlfriends.
Love it!
Beautiful. Thank you.
Heart-deep friends are one of God's greatest blessings. He gives us the gift of being able to love others so completely, because He's our perfect example of perfect love.
friends is teh bomb
Thank you oh, so much. What a great post to share - I needed it.
Well said, Heather! My husband and I are nomadic due to his career and each city we've lived in, I've been able to establish some wonderful friendships. The old, the new, the distant, the near; all are valuable when nurtured by the heart.
What a beautiful blog. Glad I found you!
Heather, great post! Friendships mean the world to me! All types! :)
Thanks for the giveaway, I'm excited!
I'm with Deb! I thought you'd be waxing all poetic about how wonderful I am and how good I am at keeping secrets, etc.
Seriously, you and your friends are so beautiful! That snapshot speaks VOLUMES! You look so happy together. Isn't it wonderfully, amazingly perfect having friends like that?
That is soooo cool! I really don't have friends like that and I want them. I've been praying for some good friends to enter our lives.
so I nominated you for a major award over at my bloghouse. Feel free to play along if you feel so inclined. Just wanted you to know I think your neat!
Great post! I love the words your friend said to you. :-) I am a sucker for great friendship stories!
friends are the best..
Just stopping by from SITS..
Don't get me wrong - I love my husband, but my friends - one had been my friend years before I met my husband (she was with me at the time too) and the other is my soulmate - we've know each other since the first grade! She's been my best friend before I even thought about getting married. They keep me grounded, they love me unconditionally and they listen to me when I complain about my husband. Sounds like you have one such friend!
Visiting from SITS
I've known my best friend for 20 years. We met in Junior High and even though we've had our ups and downs, I am so grateful for her. I've met some incredible people through blogging and whatnot, but I'm glad I still have wonderful real life friends that REALLY know ME.
This was a great post. Thank you for sharing it!
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