Skip to main content

If you can’t say it at Christmas...

...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.

Friends who take over on something when you just can’t any more.

Friends who assure you all teenagers are like that—you’re a great mom, you’re not doing anything wrong. And even if you are, that’s what therapy is for.

Friends who tell you when you’re not seeing the whole picture, and help fill in the rest for you.

Friends who eat the cookies you gave them—even the burnt ones, that they claim are delicious.

Friends who can just make you laugh, and laugh, and laugh so hard, that you imagine growing old with them would just be a riot, pills and aches and all.

Friends who understand sometimes you need to be sad, and grieve, and complain, but always make you feel like you never have to go through it alone.

I’ve so grateful to have friends who have given me these gifts, among countless others. You make me want to be a better person.

So it’s true, George Bailey, no one is failure who has friends. Thank you for your friendship, it means more to me than I can ever thank you for.

Merry Christmas, and hope to see you in the new year.

XOXO

Min

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Cognition / Re-Cognition

The brain is a mystery and a marvel. When I'm in my clearer moments of being (my normal cycle is calm/productive, then exhausted, in between there are still crying jags and feeling despair/guilt/anxiety, but mostly that's limited to when I'm alone in the car. By the way, this has always been my escape pod. My memoir could be titled "Crying in my car: One Woman's Relationship with her Car") I turn over the facts of the clinical case in my mind, over and over. So yesterday, our darling niece was planning to come by for a visit. So I let Jon know before Alex and I left in the late afternoon. He rolled his eyes and went "humph." Our darling girl is a sweetheart and we love her tremendously, but she is 1) a youngster and 2) an Angeleno, which means plans change and traffic can dictate anyone's whole day. So he expressed his usual skepticism that she would be on time, or arrive at all. When I came back in the evening with Casey, Casey asked "H...
2 comments
Read more

Things I'm thinking about

1. Jon's blood pressure, the EVD and his cranial pressure, and his feeding tube (when he can come off it.) especially the feeding tube. That totally blows having it in, since he has chewing and swallowing down just fine. 2. Corey's AP Chem test on Monday. He seems pretty cool and confident about it, and seriously seems to have his act together on several fronts. I would be a hot mess in his shoes, but he's brighter than me, fortunately. 3. All the rigamarole I'll have to sort through on the accounts that I don't have logins for--utilities, personal cards, car insurance, etc.--I wonder if companies run into this situation often? My guess is yes. We probably aren't the only couple in America that divides up responsibilities and doesn't sit down to exchange passwords and account information. Luckily we have each other's phone lock codes, otherwise I'd really be screwed. Off to the bank on Monday to get some things in motion. 4. Casey's newfoun...
2 comments
Read more

Visit Information

Hello Friends and Family, First of all, thank you thank you thank you for all your words of support, your prayers, gifts of good thoughts, positivity, and well wishes. It all helps, believe me! We are truly grateful and feel blessed to have the absolute best network of wonderful human beings--HUGS! I'm using this blog to update folks on, well, pretty much everything that comes across my mind, so feel free to check in if you're wondering what's going on. I write things down because I'm making lists, lists, lists constantly, and also because writing helps me figure out whether I'm coming of going from one minute to the next. I'm processing things through language. My heart is cracked wide open and everything is spilling out through my words, as Jon is working really hard to find his again. So some logistical things first. Just want to tell you what to expect if you are up to a visit to the ICU to see Jon, so you don't run into any surprises. He is in K...
2 comments
Read more