They are Gold!

I'm about to celebrate another birthday. Funny how that anniversary rolls around every year at this time, and I never seem to feel any older!
Well this year, I received a little treat, by mail, that made me feel a great deal older, but at the same time very grateful and blessed. My friend sent me an ancient black and white photo of myself! I hardly recognized the skinny pre-teen in the photo. She was a stranger.
Right before I turned seven, my parents bought their one and only home on Walnut Street. It was a nice place, perfect for a family of four, in a nice neighborhood. And, right across the little dirt alley dividing our block was another family of four with a girl who was just my age. That was something very special. We became great friends. There were summers when we saw each other every day and winters when we walked the three blocks, to and from grade school, with each other as companions, religiously.
The two of us rode our bikes, roller skated on the sidewalks, spent hours at the community swimming pool and walked to the public library together.
Throughout grade school and high school, we were very close. Then we went to college in different towns, married, had kids and never lived near each other again. We stayed in touch, but in our twenties and thirties we were busy with our families, etc. Our communication, during that time, was through yearly Christmas cards and the infrequent school reunion.
Thankfully, in the years since, we frequently talk to each other by phone. And when we have our long distance chats, we start right where we left off the last time we talked. It just doesn't get any better than that.

Thank you Lord for my many blessings. Thank you for the friendships. I am so blessed to have such a lasting friendship with someone so special. This is an amazing world and there are so many great people in it. Help us to keep focused on the truly good things in life.