Sunday, March 30, 2008

heartwarming [hahrt-wawr-ming]
gratifying; rewarding; satisfying; Causing gladness and tender feelings
Synonyms include: cheering, encouraging, exhilarating, gladdening, heartening, heartfelt, inspiring, joyous

There are friendships that begin strong but phase out quickly and sometimes painfully, and there are friendships that take time to grow, but when fully developed are the rocks that provide a lifetime of refuge. There are high-maintenance friendships that require constant cultivation and re-assurance, and then there are low-maintenance friendships that require no more than occasional phone calls, spontaneous evenings at Coffee Bean or BJ’s, and of course daily emails. No one relationship is better or worse than the other - just different, and strategically placed in each of our lives.

I have learned much about friendship in my lifetime, but moreso in the last year. For what I have seen and experienced, I feel blessed to have friends who don’t question your intelligence, don’t doubt your strength; friends who are the first to bring comfort but are last to give pity; friends who refuse to let bad feelings fester, refuse to let you make mistakes but refuse to let you punish yourself after; friends who leave and keep in touch, and friends who come back into your life so seamlessly that it’s like they never left. Nothing warms my heart more than knowing that my life is filled with this.

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