“I would rather walk with a friend in the dark, than alone in the light.” ― Helen Keller

For most of my life, I have been blessed with good friends. There are those who I’ve known since elementary school who I’m still in touch with today. My high school friends are still among the people closest to me and I now consider many of my college friends family. There are San Diego peeps whose friendship now spans my 22 years of living here – over half my existence on this planet. 

As life has moved at a pace I can neither predict or control, friendships have ebbed and flowed like the tides of our Pacific coastline. There are the ones who have slipped away into the expanse because of distance, or moves, or life stages like marriage and kids. The ones who chose to leave for their own reasons, some known and some unknown. There are the friends I have let go of for sake of boundaries or sanity. The ones I see every week and others I talk to only once a year but feel just as close to. There are new friends who feel like fresh waves coming in, and I am always surprised by the room in my life and heart for them. 

There was a time I tried to cling on to the currents that drifted into the sea, not willing to let them roll back gently. Maybe it was my pride or bruised ego telling me that I wasn’t good or worthy of devotion if even one left. But as I’ve grown older, I’ve come to recognize this phenomenon as a part of walking this earth. 

Friendships have seasons. Even the longest lasting ones change as the earth rotates on its axis and around the sun. 

They rarely remain the same. In fact, the best ones change as we change. They evolve as we learn and grow and expand and morph into the people we are choosing to be.

In the end, I know how lucky I am. That friendship is a rare and precious gift not to be dismissed or taken for granted. We are not meant to live life alone, and whether we have two or 20, they make life richer and sweeter.

So thank you to the steady and constant waves of the friends who have walked with me through trials and triumphs and everything in between. To the old friends and new friends. To the ones who have drifted off, and the ones yet to come. I am thankful for each of you and the impact you’ve had on my life, and how you’ve helped shaped who I am today.

[Photo: MVHS High School Graduation with friends I still love today.]