I lost a very good friend last week ~ not a friend I called every day, but a friend I enjoyed sitting beside and having a cup of tea. My friend was strong and steady, providing shelter in storms that arose unexpectedly. After many a long day I allowed myself to be propped and supported by my companion, a calm, steady, and serene listener. There was a time or two when our breezy banter effectively cleared the cobwebs from my thinking and spurred me on to a new and fresh perspective.
But even the most reliable of life’s gifts can be taken away unexpectedly. If there is a lesson to be learned from this loss, I believe it just might be the reminder to take heed of what life gives us and to offer up a prayer of thanks for what life’s little gifts add to our day-to-day existence. We should not wait until a reliable friend vanishes to whisper “thank you, I’m so glad you are in my life”. It is the gift of friendship that carries us through life’s storms and shores us up when our own resources have dwindled. Give back the gift of gratitude and you will be gifted twice.
Our Maple Tree ~
I will miss my friend but I am far richer for having shared the same piece of earth…even for a time.
I am reminded of a poem my mother used to recite to me when I was a child.
TREES
by Joyce Kilmer
- I think that I shall never see
- A poem lovely as a tree.
- A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
- Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast;
- A tree that looks at God all day,
- And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
- A tree that may in summer wear
- A nest of robins in her hair;
- Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
- Who intimately lives with rain.
- Poems are made by fools like me,
- But only God can make a tree.
