This year I’m giving thanks to all the friends I’ve met through the years.

Friendships, like everything else in life, change and  mature with age. My old school friend and I have gone years without meeting or talking because she still lives in the UK, but when we have had a chance to get back together, it’s been a comfortable reunion. It’s been easy to to converse, catch up with news and reminisce about old stuff.

When I first came to the States I found a whole new bunch of friends, funnily enough, most of them were from the UK. some stayed, some went back home, but again, we’ve stayed in touch.

Julie and I both stayed, we got married and had children. When our kids were young we were always together. If we weren’t out with other parents creating havoc, we were on the phone chatting about why we weren’t out creating havoc.

Then the kids reached school age, and we went back to work. Phone calls started to dwindle, and meeting up was even less frequent, partly because we lived on different sides of the Island. But we’re still friends, even if that friendship only extends to a text message or phone call  once in a while with a “‘hey, was thinking about you today, what’s going on, we need to have coffee”.

LOL the intention is there, but honestly, I don’t remember the last time we had coffee.  We no longer need that support from each other, we no longer need to talk everyday, I don’t require her time, she doesn’t require mine, but our friendship is never in question, it just is, it’s comfortable. It’s the way I like it.

What we had with each other, we now get from different avenues. Husband, partner, kids, job – life is busy,   we don’t need or want back the relationship we used to have.

Mary is my backbone, she’s like my mom, always steering me in the right direction, always putting me on the straight and narrow. She was there when my mom passed away and was my wall to lean on when my dad left so suddenly.

To my internet friends, who were so kind and supportive when my mom  was so sick, and who,  through their own blogs made me laugh and kept me entertained.

I am grateful to all the friends I’ve had through the years, for their patients, understanding and their uncanny ability to know when to give me a hug and when to back up and leave me alone. Hugs and kisses to you all

Happy thanksgiving