In gratitude of friendship
Let me share a story that brought home the importance of friendship and how truly rare good friends are. My father has been suffering from a radiation ulcer for months and none of the many treatments or surgery seemed to work. He was growing frustrated and certainly wasn’t his energetic and positive self. What made the situation worse is that my sister and I live miles away and my dad hadn’t been sharing his symptoms with us.
I became really concerned after my dad and I talked one Sunday so I tried to reach him the next morning. My instincts were right something was terribly wrong. It was a good friend of my father’s, thank you Leonard, who had the wisdom to take him to the emergency department that day. I am so grateful that he did because my dad was dehydrated, diagnosed with a kidney infection and ended up in the hospital for a week.
Not only did Leonard bring him to the hospital but stayed with him all that first day and then returned after dinner. He has either visited or called my father every day since. My dad’s other friends have helped in many ways including finding him second medical opinions, helping my sister get my dad’s old car returned and his new car in order and offering to take me to my dad’s office in case I had forgotten the directions. All of these people really stepped up when my dad, and we, needed them most.
The real friends in our lives can be counted on one hand. I’m talking about the friends you can call in the middle of the night to take you the hospital, or the ones who check in with you constantly when you’re dealing with the terminal illness of a loved one or the ones that simply show up without even being asked.
These friends are true gifts because you-can-count-on-me-a-crisis friendships are all too rare. Take a moment this week to acknowledge and express your gratitude for these wonderful friendships in your life.
