Friendship

       The ties that bind. Friendship is one of the best parts of life. One of the great parts about aging, is that you are able to recognize, distinguish the real from the fake. I am not going to go into a long tirade about past wrongs and betrayals-I am just going to drop a few jewels that I picked up over the years.

      True friends don't STAY mad. I mean no matter what transpired, when you get that call about a crisis, calamity, disaster, you are there. When my father died, illness, when things go wrong you are shown the truth about people. Listen to the whispers(in my Oprah voice).

      If you feel like you have to censor yourself around someone they are not your true friend. People will steal business opportunities, job offers, everything. Case in point. I was in a store with someone who hangs with a former friend of mine. They became friends AFTER we stopped being friends. I never hung out with this person, don't know her from a can of paint. Yet she had such animosity radiating from her being towards me. Hmmmmm.

          True friends compliment and complete you. No matter WHAT is going on they are there. My best friend had a emergency but no matter what she made it home to wish my son a happy birthday. She knows the depth of my love and adoration for my child. See what people fail to realize about life is that the little things matter. Having a shoulder to cry on. To be able to turn to someone and expose your shortcomings. To be raw and seek comforts for your wounds. Never throwing up in your face what they did for you.

           I am thankful for the fake friends, vultures, frenemies and negative people I have come into contact with. The ones who are quick to spend your money but when they got some they are out. Or will sell your secrets for a drink. I am an amazing person. Of course there are going to be some haters. It is a given. It however will not be tolerated in my circle. My home used to stay busy. I rarely entertain now unless it's my family or close friends.

       I am far from perfect. To know me is to love me though. It used to hurt when people I thought knew my story to my glory shit on me but it's all apart of life. For every fake friend I eliminated or who was purged from my life through something, their departure made space for me to embrace a genuine, loving and positive person.

      I also don't desire new people getting close to me. If I learned nothing else at all over the last few years I have learned that less is more. Everything in life is geared to teach you something. Chaos comes from not having peace in your life. Eliminate the negatives and concentrate on the positives. If our goals are not aligned then what is the use of being around each other.

       I am very loyal. It is a trait I used to detest but I see it in my son and I admire him for it. He has some great friends. They are great kids. They remind me that no matter what point we each start off from if we are determined to take this journey together and remain true and real with each other than the possibilities are endless.