What I’m Thankful for #11: Loyal Friends Over Long Distances

This is one in a series of daily posts I conceived of writing many weeks ago while the election still raged on, as I looked for something to write about of more lasting value. The weeks leading up to Thanksgiving seemed perfectly appropriate for it. Just in case you wondered, the topics introduced are not necessarily in any particular order. I hope the series is of some small encouragement to you, even as my site traffic takes a dive.

Don’t worry. The purpose of this post is not to attempt to seek a definition of “Friendship” or to categorize the different varieties and permutations of friends I have, as Joseph Epstein sought to do.

Instead, I just wanted to briefly and publicly state my gratitude for the friends I have gained throughout my life – and more specifically, the loyal friends over long distances. In my case, it’s the handful of people I befriended in high school, college, or elsewhere, whom I rarely see, but with whom I can get on the phone, or send a letter and email, after months and feel like we have picked up the conversation where it left off.

There’s no use to try to tick off the names on the relatively short list, for fear of inadvertently omitting someone from the discussion. Yet I am truly grateful to God for these people with whom the deep kinship carries on despite the separations of miles and years. They represent additional spices and flavors (some more humorous, others more serious) that in many different ways continue to enhance and edify my life.

Proverbs 27:17
Iron sharpens iron, So one man sharpens another.