I missed our TPW walk in the cemetery on Saturday morning because I still had house guests and I wanted to spend as much time with them as possible because they were going to be leaving that day. I have known these two friends, one now living in Wales and the other living in Windsor, since we were 13 years old. We met in our first year of high school and survived those difficult teenage years only by hanging together. We are now at the beginning of our seventies and still remain close friends. How absolutely glorious is that???
In his book, Consolations, poet and philosopher, David Whyte, wrote the following:
"FRIENDSHIP is a mirror to presence and a testament to forgiveness. Friendship not only helps us see ourselves through another’s eyes, but can be sustained over the years only with someone who has repeatedly forgiven us for our trespasses as we must find it in ourselves to forgive them in turn. A friend knows our difficulties and shadows and remains in sight, a companion to our vulnerabilities more than our triumphs, when we are under the strange illusion we do not need them. An undercurrent of real friendship is a blessing exactly because its elemental form is rediscovered again and again through understanding and mercy. All friendships of any length are based on a continued, mutual forgiveness. Without tolerance and mercy all friendships die"
I wish each of you the joys of friendship, after all, we are all in this together.
