A Good Friend

As you grow up, you make new friends. This starts from the minute you are born. You meet new people every day and pick and choose who you hit it off with. It is always interesting to look back on your life and see the friends you made along the way. It has been fun as a mom to watch my children make friends at each stage of their young lives.

You have different types of friends; friends at work, friends at school, friends from your parents, friends from forever, friends through friends, the list goes on.

As you progress through different stages of your life your friends begin to change. I don't think through any fault of anyone, they just simply change. Life is different at all times and the people you surround yourself with change with the different stages you are at. Some people are lucky enough to have friends that are with them at all stages, and play a role in all parts of their lives. While this is ideal, to have someone or a group of people that are there and know you like you know yourself, this isn't always common.

I am one of those lucky ones, I have made a lot of friends in my 33 years, but my closest friends are the friends that I have known since I moved to Indiana in sixth grade. However, the reality is at this stage in our lives our focus is not to each other like it once was. Our focus is our husbands, our children, our family, our work, our simple lives. Sometimes it is hard to adjust to that new focus. It is different than it once was, as it should be.

While your friends are an amazing part of growing up, they shift and change as life grows and what you are left with are the people that really want to be there for you. The people that you can pick up the phone and call when you need someone to listen or to help you. The people that will drop everything and really come to your aide, or the people that don't always put themselves first. Those are really the people you want to be surrounded by, not just 'friends'. In most peoples lives they can count those 'true friends' on one hand.

It will be my job to teach my children what a friend looks and acts like. Teaching them to be kind is one thing but teaching them to be a good friend is something totally different. I have always seen myself as a good friend, but I am sure there are things I could have and should have done better in past friendships. Being a good friend is hard and you have to choose who deserves your friendship, who reciprocates your friendship, who really sees you as someone they are going to be there for. It is a hard realization to learn that someone may not choose you, but the sooner you see it and embrace it the sooner you can find those people that truly want to be a part of your life.

I will say there are very few people I look back on and think I did not do enough as their friend. If my children can say that then they've done well, and in turn I have done my job.