...then when can you, eh? A friend of mine and I recently were saying our goodbyes—a temporary break before the holiday rush of traveling and commitments. Before we parted ways, this old friend of many years said, “I’m sorry I didn’t get to write this on a card, but I want you to know I couldn’t have made it through this past year without you.” It was possibly the best gift I could have imagined—the gift of honest, sincere, appreciation of friendship. This really made me think hard about my own gifts—given and received, over this year and all the years before. And I’ve reached a single conclusion about my life: I’ve been really, really, lucky, more than any person could hope for. Because I’ve had more than what the Beatles got—I get by with a LOT of help from my friends. Friends who drop into your life out of nowhere, just to say hello and check in, maybe have a cup of coffee. And sometimes they make you take a break for coffee even when you think you don’t need one.