"The glory of friendship is not the outstretched hand, not the kindly smile, not the joy of companionship; it is the spiritual inspiration that comes to one when you discover that someone else believes in you and is willing to trust you with a friendship." -Ralph Waldo Emerson I could have titled my post "The Parable of the Friend with a Strawberry!"
Once upon a time, when I was in high school, I'd had a lousy day at school, returned home and found no solace there. When I sounded down during a phone call to my friend, Kim, she wasted no time and within the hour she was at my doorstep with a hug & a basket of strawberries.
I'm pretty stoic by nature (well, until lately - maybe old age makes people cry babies) and I don't often "fall apart." But, with Kim's kind gesture, I kind of lost it (teary sobs and all!). It was only "a moment" but Kim coming to my rescue turned the memory from a crummy day into a memory of a faithful friend delivering big red strawberries!
In fact, I don't even remember what I was distraught about. And one of the best things about tender memories is that seeing any image of strawberries now becomes symbolic to me of a true friend! Often it's a simple and small thing we do for friends, but like Kim's action, it touched me in a big way!
Kim and I are both booking flights (out of Colorado and California) to join our buddies in Utah for a ski weekend next month. So almost forty years later and we're still friends! Lucky me!
